- Thursday, February 27, 2025
The victims include the accused’s teenage brother, grandmother, paternal uncle, aunt, and his girlfriend
By: India Weekly
THE MASS murder of five people at three locations in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday (24), allegedly carried out by a 23-year-old man Afan has sent shock waves across Kerala.
The victims include the accused’s teenage brother, grandmother, paternal uncle, aunt, and a young woman, who is said to be his girlfriend.
He had also attacked his mother but she survived and is undergoing treatment at a hospital.
The incident came to light when Afan appeared at the Venjaramoodu police station on Monday evening and confessed to the murders.
The mass murders took place across three houses, reportedly separated by around 20-25 kilometres, in the Venjaramoodu area near the state capital.
Afan is suspected of having travelled from one house to the other on his motorbike to carry out the murders, police said.
He is currently hospitalised after he claimed to have consumed poison.
When Afan confessed to the cops about the murders, they found it difficult to believe him. They felt either he was bluffing or he was mentally unsound.
The discovery of the bloody remains of Afan’s younger brother Afsan (14), girlfriend Farsana (22), grandmother Salma Beevi (92), uncle Latheef (62) and aunt Sajitha Beevi (55) – one after another – made them realise the gruesome nature of the crime.
Afan’s mother Shemi is still unaware that her son had killed five others, including her other son.
Police claim that Afan first attacked Shemi by strangulating her with a shawl.
Thinking that she was dead, he travelled around 25 km to his grandmother’s house at Pangode.
He bludgeoned the 92-year-old with a hammer that he had purchased for the purpose.
His paternal uncle Lateef and his wife Sajitha, who stayed in SN Puram, were his next victims.
Police claim that the autopsy of Latheef, a retired CRPF man, showed he suffered more than 20 hammer blows.
After bludgeoning them, Afan returned to Perumala.
Meanwhile, his younger brother Afsan had returned from school and found the main door of his house locked from outside.
He contacted his neighbours, who tried to dial Shemi, but it was Afan who picked up the call.
Afan soon arrived home and took his brother to a nearby restaurant, and told him to wait for the order.
He picked up Farzana from Venjaramoodu town and took both of them to his home and killed them.
Afan then hired an auto to go to the Venjaramoodu police station to confess to his crime.
Neighbours shocked
His neighbours and relatives were shocked to hear about the gruesome murder and claimed that Afan was a good-natured, mild-mannered and soft-spoken person.
The remains of Afan’s grandmother, brother, uncle and aunt were handed over to the family after completion of post-mortem and were kept on public display at the accused’s grandmother’s home at Pangode for relatives and neighbours to pay their last respects.
Hundreds, including close friends, relatives and neighbours turned up to see the victims’ remains for the last time and many could be seen breaking down.
Thereafter, the victims’ remains were laid to rest in the evening at the Pangode Juma Masjid.
The funeral rites of Afan’s girlfriend Farsana were carried out at her home and then her remains were laid to rest at the Kattumurakkal Juma Masjid in Chirayinkeezhu.
Farsana hailed from a lower middle-class family and she used to provide tuitions to students to supplement the family’s income.
The family knew about her relationship with Afan and they were okay with it.
Possible motives
The police initially suspected the accused committed these crimes under the influence of drugs, considering the gruesome way they were killed.
Since he had also taken rat poison, the police officials feel that only a scientific examination can ascertain the exact nature of the drug.
However, some news reports claim that financial crisis in the family was the motive behind the killings.
The had incurred a debt of around ₹7.5 million, and Afan was struggling to pay his brother’s school fees.
According to police, his father Rahim, currently in Saudi Arabia, had incurred losses in his automobile spare parts business there and is unable to leave the country as he faces a police case.
Afan has been borrowing money from relatives, and he often used to get mocked and scolded by some of his relatives.
This inculcated a feeling of being humiliated and made him bitter towards his relatives.
The police claim Afan has been giving contradictory statements and hoped his mother Shemi would recover to provide them more details.
