Woman arrested over 4 mysterious deaths in family

The police team investigating the case of the allegedly mysterious deaths of four members of a family at Padannakkara, near Pinarayi, here arrested the lone surviving member in the family on Monday night after an interrogation that lasted more than 10 hours.

The arrested has been identified as Vannatham Veettil Soumya (28), who had been under treatment at the Cooperative Hospital at Thalassery over the past few days after she fell sick with symptoms similar to those showed by her two deceased children and parents. She was taken into custody for questioning at the Government Rest House at Thalassery in the morning.

Announcing that her arrest was recorded, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Chithra Teresa John told reporters on Tuesday night that the details of the investigation would be disclosed on Wednesday. Soumya was questioned by a police team which included the ASP and Circle Inspector K.E. Premachandran. A Crime Branch team joined the team in the evening.

One or two youths who had allegedly links with her were also questioned. “It is a difficult case and not easy to crack,” said a senior police officer.

The Crime Branch and the local police are jointly investigating the case, he added.

Three of the four deaths have occurred over the last three-and-a-half months, all showing similar symptoms, including severe vomiting. Soumya’s one-year-old daughter Keerthana died in 2012, reportedly showing the same symptoms. Her second daughter, Aishwarya, 9, died on January 31. Relatives of the family and local people raised suspicion after Soumya’s mother V. Kamala, 65, died on March 7 and then her father V.V. Kunhikannan, 76, on April 13.

Chemical analysis

Chemical analysis tests following a post-mortem of Kamala and Kunhikannan found that the viscera of the deceased had residues of aluminium phosphide, a hard poison used for killing rodents. Soumya herself had fallen sick with similar symptoms recently. The body of Aishwarya was exhumed from the house compound on Monday for chemical examination.

As the incident happened at the native place of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the State police top brass is closely following the investigation. Though the local police probing the case conveyed their confidence in unravelling the ‘mystery’ behind the deaths, State Police Chief Loknath Behera explored the possibility of handing over the case to the Crime Branch, sources said.

A joint team of local police and the Crime Branch was formed to probe the case at his behest, they said adding that the local police were reluctant to hand over the case to the Crime Branch at this stage.