
Devaky was sleeping peacefully in her house in Puthenvelikkara, a gram panchayat without street lights in the suburbs of Ernakulam in Kerala, unaware that a burglar was standing over her, ready to strike. This was around 1 am on October 2, 2006. What happened next has inspired many horror stories, and is now part of folklore as Kerala’s own version of Jack The Ripper. But last summer, I uncovered a trail of facts that challenged everything that is known about the case.
What we know from the police version is that the burglar stood about 5 feet tall, with thinning hair, a small beard, and a heavy moustache. He had come to Devaky’s bedroom after knocking out her husband Ramakrishnan, who was asleep in another room, with two strikes to the head using an iron rod. He used the same rod on Devaky’s head and face, splashing blood on his green shirt and saffron mundu (dhoti). He wasn’t done.