6 from a family die in similar circumstances, Kerala police to exhume bodies

Mangalore Today News Network

Kerala, Oct 04, 2019 : Kerala police will exhume six bodies from a family tomb in north Kerala after suspicion of foul play behind their deaths which occurred between 2002 and 2016 after a local court gave permission to the crime branch. Police said that all the six died under similar circumstances and their suspicion arose after one of the relatives alerted the police, Hindustan Times reported.

 

Ponnamattom family from Kozhikode saw six deaths occur in a similar fashion. Anamma Thomas was the first to die in the year 2002. Her death was followed by her husband’s death which occurred six years later in 2008. Later, their son Roy Thomas died in 2011and his death was followed by the death of Mathew, Anamma’s brother, who died in the year 2014. In the same year, two relatives, a woman and her one-year old child died under similar circumstances.

Police said that all of them died after they had suddenly collapsed and they linked the deaths to heart ailments.

Only Roy Thomas’s body had undergone autopsy during which some poisonous substances were recovered from his stomach which the police wrote it off as a suicide. After being alerted by a relative, police suspected that property dispute might have led to these ‘silent deaths’ and the perpetrators must have fallen out over sharing booty.

Forensic experts at the Kozhikode medical college hospital said they can detect the cause of death after examining bones and other remains. It happens to be the first time in Kerala that a tomb is being exhumed after a long gap.

“We have some leads. Hope we will get some evidence to buttress our suspicion,” said Kozhikode rural SP K G Simon while outlining that it was too early to arrive at a conclusion.