Jose Sundaram, the maternal uncle of Kedal Jinson Raja – the key accused in the 2017 Nanthancode multiple murder case – passed away on June 2, just days after a court awarded him Rs 15 lakh in compensation. Jose had been battling Parkinson’s disease and living without a stable income, relying on the support of friends and relatives for nearly eight years.
In a case that shocked Kerala with its brutality and bizarre spiritual motivations, Kedal, a medical graduate, was accused of murdering his entire family – father Dr Raja Thankam, mother Dr Jean Padma, sister Dr Caroline, and a relative named Lalitha – over two days at their residence near Cliff House of Nanthancode in Thiruvananthapuram. Investigators later found out that Kedal was obsessed with astral projection while studying abroad and told investigators that the murders were part of his experiments with out-of-body experiences.
Before the murders, Jose had transferred ownership of a four-cent plot and a house to his sister, Jean Padma, under the condition that she would provide him Rs 50,000 per month as financial assistance. But only two months later, on April 5, 2017, she was found murdered.
After the murders, Jose repeatedly visited Kedal Raja in prison to request the return of the property. Each time, he was turned away.
“Jose resigned from his engineering job in a private firm in Trivandrum and was later cared for by his sister, Dr Jean Padma. Her murder left him shattered,” said Rajendran, a close friend and batchmate from the College of Engineering, Trivandrum (CET). “He fought for years to reclaim what was rightfully his, but in the end, it was all in vain. We didn’t just lose a dear friend; we lost a talented keyboardist and musician.”
Jose’s CET batchmates had come together to cover his medical expenses during his final years.
“I can't even stand because of Parkinson’s. I can't afford my medicines and survive only with the help of my friends,” Jose had told Asianet News in an earlier interview.
On May 12, 2025, the Sixth Additional Sessions Court in Thiruvananthapuram found Kedal Jinson Raja guilty under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 436 (mischief by fire) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence). He was sentenced to seven and five years in prison for each charge, respectively. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 15 lakh, ordering it to be paid to Jose as compensation, if recovered from Kedal.
However, Jose passed away before receiving a single rupee of the amount.
As per the court's ruling, Kedal must complete the combined 12-year sentence before beginning his life imprisonment term for the murders.