Kattappana twin murder: accused retracts statement on newborn’s burial

He claimed to have relocated the body from the cattle shed and subsequently incinerated it.

Police searching the cattle shed of a house at Sagara Junction. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The investigation in the Kattappana twin murder case hit a barrier on Monday after Nitheesh, the primary suspect, altered his statement, prompting a temporary suspension of the police search for the newborn’s remains.

Nitheesh, 31, retracted his earlier testimony concerning the burial of a newborn in the cattle shed of a house near Sagara Junction, Kattappana.

During interrogation, Nitheesh had confessed to the murders of N.G. Vijayan in August 2023 and a four-day-old newborn in July 2016. He claimed to have buried them inside a rented house at Kakkattuakda, near Kattappana, and the cattle shed of an old house at Sagara Junction, respectively.

On Sunday, the police successfully exhumed Vijayan’s remains from the rented house for further examination. However, despite an exhaustive three-hour search in the cattle shed that evening, authorities were unable to locate any skeletal remains of the newborn.

Initially, the police reported Nitheesh’s admission that he killed the newborn and buried it in the cattle shed. However on Monday, he altered his statement, asserting that he had relocated the body from the cattle shed and subsequently incinerated it. Following this revelation, the police subjected Nitheesh to another round of interrogation, along with Vijayan’s son Vishnu, his mother Suma, and sister. All parties involved vehemently denied Nitheesh’s revised statement. Despite renewed efforts on Monday, the police were unable to find any evidence of the newborn’s remains at the cattle shed.

The unfolding of this double murder case originated during an investigation into a theft case, leading to the apprehension of Vishnu Vijayan, 29 and Nitheesh, both residents of Kakkattukada, by the Kattappana police on the night of March 2. Nitheesh, who is said to be a sorcerer, first established contact with the family in 2015. Subsequently, he started living with the family and had a child with Vishnu’s sister in 2016. The newborn was reportedly killed as it was born out of wedlock in 2016, followed by the murder of Vishnu’s father, Vijayan, in August 2023.