KOZHIKODE: The gruesome murder of an 8-year old at Kannoth near Kollyot in Kasargod district was carried out by a normal person nursing a grudge against the boy’s family contrary to the police’s initial claim that the killer was mentally deranged.
Harishchandra Naik, Kanhangad DySP who questioned Vijayan, 35, for more than two hours after his arrest, told Deccan Chronicle that he was very normal throughout the interrogation and replied to his questions in proper sense.
“He is normal on all counts except for his grudge against Abbas’s family, which is based on a misconception. Vijayan goes to work regularly and earns his living. He has no history of mental illness. But he believes that Abbas will eliminate him and he wanted to kill Abbas before that. Instead he tried to target Abbas’s son,” Mr. Naik said.
Highly placed police sources said that they had never mentioned Vijayan, 35, as a mentally deranged person anywhere in the FIR and said the case would be taken to court as a normal murder case.
Vijayan, who is now on remand, is kept along with normal prisoners and police had not requested for a special cell for him, which they do normally in case of violent mentally ill patients. Local residents also knew about Vijayan’s grudge against Abbas family.
“Vijayan was once arrested for a bomb hoax call to railways and his picture was published by papers on the day of his arrest. Vijayan believes that it was Abbas who was behind his arrest. He also has several such small illogical accusations against the victim’s family, which make one believe that he is abnormal,” Mr Naik said.
There have been voices against treating Vijayan as a mental patient in the case which could ultimately avoid a sterner punishment for him.
Social media activists and people in the neighbourhood wanted Vijayan to be treated as a normal criminal and punished accordingly for his gruesome act.
