Her entire family dead, police nab woman

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: WHEN ONE DAUGHTER AND THEIR GRAND PARENTS DIED OF THE SAME SUDDEN UNEXPLAINED ILLNESS WITHIN WEEKS OF EACH OTHER, NEIGHBOURS ALERTED POLICE

The Kerala Police on Tuesday detained a 39-year-old woman in connection with a probe into the deaths, now being treated as suspicious, of four family members, including her two daughters.

PK Soumya’s two children, father and mother died in the six years she had been living with her parents in north Kerala’s Pinarayi village, with three of the deaths reported this very year, police said. All of them died of unexplained illness.

“Her statements are inconsistent and contradictory. We suspect some foul play,” said a police officer, adding a clear picture would emerge after the woman was questioned thoroughly.

The first death was that of Soumya’s one-year-old daughter Keerthana, who died after a brief bout of vomiting and diarrhoea in 2012, police said.

Her older daughter, eightyear-old Iswayra, showed the same symptoms and died on January 21 this year. But when the children’s grandmother, Vadavathi Kamala (68), died on March 7 and grandfather, PK Kunjikannan (76), on April 13 of the same sudden unexplained illness, neighbours sensed a pattern and alerted police.

As all four deaths occurred at home, no complaint was lodged and burials were done without post mortem examinations.

With court’s permission, police exhumed Iswayra’s remains on Sunday. A team of doctors and forensic experts found high traces of aluminium phosphide, a common pesticide used for killing rats, in the body, police said.

Doctors say aluminium phosphide affects vital organs and can cause a multi-organ failure. Used as a pesticide, aluminium phosphide is easily available and is common suicide poision, they say.

Suspecting foul play, police detained Soumya on Tuesday. Two local men who were reportedly close to her have also been detained, but police did not share details about them.

The police officer said they were investigating if more people were involved.

Separated from her husband, Soumya and her children were staying with her parents in Pinarayi, the home village of chief minister and CPI (M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan.