The Thiruvananthapuram district Crime Branch has moved the court seeking permission to impose murder charges in the Karamana death case, pertaining to the death of seven members of a family over 20 years. The district Crime Branch has asked Thiruvananthapuram Chief Magistrate Court (CJM) to impose the murder charge in one of the seven deaths — Jayamadhavan Nair, the last heir of the affluent family who died in 2017.
The seven deceased persons — Koodam Gopinathan Nair, his wife Sumukhi Amma, daughter Jayasree, sons Balakrishnan and Jayaprakash, Gopinathan’s nephews Unnikrishnan Nair and Jayamadhavan Nair — belonged to the Koodathil family of Uma Mandiram House at Kulathara near Karamana. The seven family members passed away within a span of 20 years, with the last death of Jayamadhavan happening in 2017. This led to their family property worth Rs 30 crore being handed to family caretaker Raveendran Nair.
Thiruvananthapuram District Crime Branch started a probe in 2019 after neighbours of the family approached Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, raising suspicions on the deaths. They stated that with no heir, the family property was supposed to be handed over to the government.
According to reports, the forensic report on Jayamadhavan’s death has raised the District Crime Branch’s suspicions.
It was on April 2, 2017 that Jayamadhavan was found dead in his house at Karamana. Though it was initially thought that he died after falling out of his bed and hitting his head, police reportedly found a wooden log with blood stains on the premises of the house. The forensic analysis led to suspicions that it was a murder case.
The Crime Branch has also told the court that there were discrepancies in the statement given by the family caretaker. The Crime Branch will reportedly decide on whether the caretaker should be charged or not after completing evidence collection.
It was alleged that Raveendran Nair forged Jayamadhavan’s will in the name of a trust. A case was registered under cheating and forgery in 2019.
Moreover, relatives of the family had alleged that two family members, including Jayamadhavan, had mental illness. However, medical certificates to prove this were allegedly destroyed. When a relative named Prasannakumari approached police regarding this, the caretaker allegedly threatened her.