Why Pinarayi woman killed her child, parents

Kannur: It was the dream of starting a new life with her paramour that prompted 28-year-old Soumya to commit the gruesome murders of her own child and parents, investigation into the eerie serial deaths of a family in Pinarayi has revealed.

The Kerala police on Tuesday night arrested Soumya after she confessed to killing her parents and her nine-year-old daughter by poisoning them with rat poison in a gap of four months. Another daughter of Soumya, Keerthana, had died in 2012. But Soumya denied having any role in it.

The woman was separated from her husband and according to the police, she killed parents and child as they were 'impediments to her wayward life'.

Soumya was taken for questioning when she was convalescing at a state-run hospital where she was admitted for nausea and indigestion - incidentally the same symptoms that her parents and her elder daughter suffered before they died. While her mother, Vimala, died on March 7, her father, Kunhikannan, passed away on April 13, her daughter, Aishwarya, died on January 31.

However, following a complaint from a relative, the body of the child was exhumed after rat poison was found in the viscera of her parents. The police also questioned the auto driver who purchased and handed over the rat poison to Soumya.

Death-by poisoning

Soumya reportedly told the police that she 'learned' about the poisoning method from her estranged husband. Soumya said that her husband had tried to kill her by poisoning about six years ago. However, the police have not believed her statements.

11-hour marathon grilling

It was to hoodwink the police that Soumya complained of uneasiness and got admitted to hospital. She wanted to establish that she did not have any role in the murder. Soumya's intention was to depict the murder of her parents as suicide due to financial and personal issues. The police during the interrogation also found that Soumya hatched the plot to kill her family members under the influence of two youths.

Soumya has given the statement that she killed her elder daughter and parents by giving rat poison as they became an obstacle for continuing her illicit affairs. She admitted to her crimes after a marathon interrogation of 11 hours by police.

Initially, she did not cooperate with the police for hours and even challenged the police to prove the case. After the questioning of police team headed by CI, Crime Branch team took over the interrogation.

No eyewitness or circumstantial evidence

Soumya did not reveal much initially but as the questioning progressed, she found herself cornered as people who had connections with her were also summoned by the police.

In the initial stage, other than the scientific evidence there were no other evidence to corroborate the involvement of Soumya in the murders. As there was no eyewitness or circumstantial evidence, the questioning of Soumya took longer than expected as the police wanted to get maximum information from her. Finally, she admitted her crimes as the questioning entered late into night.

Poison in Rasam, rice

She gave the statement that she killed Aishwarya, her elder daughter, by mixing rat poison in rice. Her father was murdered by mixing rat poison in Rasam and to murder her mother she mixed rat poison in fish curry.

But she said her younger child Keerthana died a natural death in 2012.

The prime reason pointed out for the murders was that her family had became an obstruction for Soumya to continue her illicit relationships. The police had questioned the youths, who had relations with Soumya. If they were aware about the murders, than more arrest would take place soon.

Education till class 10

The strong attitude shown by Soumya during interrogation even surprised the police team. Soumya, who studied till class 10, tried her hands at various jobs - from crushing stones in quarry to working as an assistant in operation theatre. Currently, she was working as a collection agent of Indian Cooperative Credit Society.

First murder went unnoticed, so...

In January 2018, the elder daughter, Aishwarya, chanced upon Soumya's illicit relationship and got beaten up by her mother. Few days after the incident, the girl was hospitalized with excessive vomiting. Soumya told the police as the murder went unnoticed she grew confident and used the same method to murder her parents.

To escape from being caught by the police, she also complained of uneasiness and illness. She also spread that the people in the family developed uneasiness after drinking water from the well which she claimed was mixed with some chemical. She spread the news through some youths and local people.

Soumya got herself admitted in Thalassery hospital a week ago. The police found that she did not have any medical condition, which became the first breakthrough in the case.

Interestingly, the incident was reported from Pinarayi, the village where chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan belongs to and it was only after his intervention did the police stepped-up their investigation.