Cunning psycho killer of teenage daughter: Police unravel Vaiga murder case

KOCHI: The sensational incidents related to the missing of a father and the death of his daughter in Kerala has been unravelling ever since the arrest of Sanu Mohan from Karnataka. The Kerala police who have taken the custody of Mohan, the father of the 13-year-old Vaiga, termed him the 'cunning psycho' due to his cunningness in destroying evidence that leads to him.

Mohan's move of destroying the cell phone he used and selling off his car, in an attempt to erase the evidence, make him a "cunning psycho", the police said while describing his one-month long disappearance. The 40-year-old father, who was missing for nearly a month after his daughter was found dead in the Muttar River near Manjummel, was captured at Karwar beach two days ago. He had confessed that he suffocated the child and thrown into the river.

Pre-planned Murder

After he was captured, "He was tracking us while it should have been the other way round; we had to be cautious," said Kochi City Police Commissioner Nagarju Chakilam, who monitored the search for Sanu.

The police said that Sanu was using his wife's cell phone while he left Kochi, which he cast off midway. They also received information that Sanu also tried to purchase SIM cards using a relative's Aadhar some three months ago. This made the police assert that the murder was pre-planned. Police also found that he never used his ATM cards when he was in hiding and used public transport. Sanu's inactiveness on social media and not leaving any digital footprints prolonged his capture.

Rampant search and a Xerox trapped Sanu

The search team divided into eight wings was led by Thrikkakara ACP Sreekumar. CCTV footage featuring Mohan from and around Vaalayaar had left an assumption in the police that he was alive and might have gone to Coimbatore after the heinous crime. Mohan told police that he had sold it at Coimbatore for 50,000 rupees, but half of it went stolen.

He had used his original IDs to reside in hotels, and that trapped him. He travelled from Kerala to Tamil Nadu to Karnataka and reached Kollur Mookambika. He left a hotel there without paying, which led the hotel owner to check the xerox of his Aadhaar he gave them. Thus the owner realised that he is a culprit in hiding. The Hotel owner showed the ID to one Krishna Kumar, a regular customer who also hails from Thrikkakara. Krishna Kumar consulted the Thrikkakara Ambalam ward councillor, and thus the ID reached the police, helping them locating Sanu.

The investigation will move forward based on Vaiga's chemical analysis of internal organs and autopsy reports. Initial autopsy inferred that her death was out of drowning. Regarding bloodstains found inside his flat, Sanu told police that it came out of the girl's nostrils while being suffocated.

Contrasting statements obstructing the case

Sanu testified that he fell into debt of crores and had decided to kill his family and commit suicide. But he came to know that his wife would not concur to the scheme, which made him decide to kill his daughter before killing himself. But after he was done with the child, he told the police, he couldn't find the courage to do it himself. But the police are not convinced of this.

Also, at first, he said that he had used a cloth to strangle her and later changed the statement saying he had used hands not cloth. The post mortem report found high alcohol content in Vaiga's body as well, but Sanu denied feeding the child liquor. Police said that this also needs clarification and added that these discrepancies are further obstructing the police in building the case. They said that they are waiting for more scientific evidence.

Sent to police custody

Sanu, who left Kochi on March 20th, was captured on April 18th after the investigation team got the whiff of him from Kollur Mookambika. The team received help from the Karnataka police. Sanu, who was presented before Kakkanad first class judicial magistrate after the Covid test, was sent to police custody for ten days. Many, including his wife, relatives, in-laws, and neighbours, said that Sanu Mohan's capture gave them relief.

Sanu will be taken to his flat, the river and the places he travelled for collecting more evidence.

Vaiga was found dead in the Muttar river on March 22nd 2021, and her father was found missing. Her uncle had filed a missing case then.