Horror novel, black magic, 2 killings: Kerala double murder unravels

Also known as Puthenpurackal Nitheesh, he was arrested in the early hours of March 2 along with Vishnu (27) from Kattappana town in Kerala’s Idukki district during an attempted robbery at an automobile workshop.

While investigating the theft, police came across evidence pointing to two murders that they allegedly committed — of a newborn baby, allegedly Nitheesh’s, and Vishnu’s father N G Vijayan (65).

It started with the police’s search of the rented house that the two lived in at Kakkatukada village under Kanchiyar panchayat near Kattappana town to see where the stolen items were kept. During the search, the police found two women locked inside a room. They were Vishnu’s mother and sister. The women were found to be in a mentally unstable condition.

Subsequently, the police contacted the relatives of the family, who indicated that Vijayan, the head of the family, had been missing since last September.

Further investigation found that Nitheesh, who had attached himself to the family years ago in the guise of perfoming black magic for them, allegedly impregnated Vijayan’s daughter and that she delivered a child in July 2016. The newborn was allegedly killed four days after birth, with both Vijayan’s and Vishnu’s help, according to police. It was also found that in August 2023, Vijayan was allegedly killed and buried under the floor of one of the rooms at their rented house.

Inspector N Suresh Kumar, who is investigating the case, said Nitheesh’s serialised novel had many similarities to the first crime. “There are a lot of similarities between the story and the sequence of events that led up to the first murder. He had developed a close relationship with VIjayan’s family under the guise of performing black magic for them. Vijayan was interested in black magic and Nitheesh reached out to the family, exploiting their belief in superstition,” he said.

According to the police, Nitheesh studied up to class 12 and later started working as a black magic practitioner.

After the killing of the newborn, the police said, the whole family came further under Nitheesh’s influence. “They acted as per Nitheesh’s directions. He had even sexually abused Vijayan’s wife, and forced Vishnu to engage in theft,” the inspector said. This eventually led to a dispute between Vijayan and Nitheesh, which, the officer said, led to Vijayan’s murder in 2023.

Before getting embroiled with Nitheesh, Vijayan, a middle class farmer, was leading a quiet life in Kattappana in a house he owned. Nitheesh also lived in the same town, not far away from Vijayan’s family. Nitheesh’s father had abandoned his family years ago and his mother worked as a house help.

A local resident said, “VIjayan’s faith was rooted in superstitions. Nitheesh had exploited it and there were regular poojas at his home. Vijayan even believed that his house was unfit for residence. Nitheesh’s involvement at the house slowly turned Vijayan into an introvert. He sold his house for Rs 94 lakh a few years ago (after the murder of the newborn).”

After the sale of their house, the family moved from one rented house to another until getting to the house at Kanchiyar in August last year. They led a secluded life at the village, avoiding interactions with even neighbours. Vishnu, who took the house on rent, told the owner that they were constructing a new house and that the rented premises were meant for him and his father. He told the neighbours that his mother and sister were living in Pune.

Kanchiyar panchayat member Rama Manoharan said, “We never knew that two women lived at that house. Vishnu did not allow anyone into the house. Not even a dress was seen outside the house, but its premises were cleaned every day. As a panchayat member, I had tried to maintain a rapport with the family, but Vishnu never entertained it. We have not even seen his father Vijayan (who was murdered in that house). Nitheesh was also not keen to meet the locals.”

The police have exhumed Vijayan’s body from under the floor of the rented house after the two accused confessed to the crime. The body of the newborn is yet to be retrieved; Nitheesh has told the police it was burnt.