Madatharuvi Murder Case
June 16, 1966 at 8 am.
Sharada, one of the laborers who came to pick a hook in Thommachan’s tea garden in Chaumman (purchased from Mundukottaikkal Kora in 1946) saw a horrible scene and screamed…!
Other working women also came running…
In the tea garden, on the footpath to Kannampally, a young woman’s body was lying naked on a bed sheet, bathed in blood! The woman’s nakedness was exposed! The chatta (a garment worn by Christian women instead of a blouse) was lifted up, exposing the bruised and cut breasts. Saddened by the sight of the dead body, Sarada took a stick from a nearby tree and used it to dig out the edge of the bed sheet and covered only the pubic part.
A stone, an umbrella and a torch were lying next to the dead body. The left side of the dead body’s face was crushed. Many stab wounds on the chest and stomach and the neck was severed…! A rat was stuck in that wound!!
Many people came and looked but did not recognize the person. Everyone is 25-26 years old enough! Some even said that some college girl was brought here by her boyfriend and killed!
The police came and searched but could not identify the man. After an on-the-spot post-mortem the next day, the body was buried as an unidentified body in a nearby reserve forest, beside the Madatharuvi stream.
On the fourth day Kalanilayam Krishnan Nayar’s Thaniniram newspaper published a gruesome murder news accusing the police of negligence; Then in series…
The family of Maryakutty, who had been searching for Maryakutty for 3 days in the Alappuzha compound, saw this news, mother Maryamma, brother Chacko and daughter Kochuthresya came to the Ranni police station.
After seeing the clothes, jewelery and photographs found in the dead body, they identified the person – Maryakutty!
The police, who were under pressure due to the newspaper report, registered a case of murder and intensified the investigation. In the police team Pathanamthitta Circle Inspector K. M. Joseph (nephew of former Minister K. M. George), Adoor DYSP, K. V. Ramanathan (brother of Malayathur Ramakrishnan IAS), SI. (Idiyan!) Karunakaran, Crime Branch SI. Kunju Muhammad Kutty were the main ones.
As the body was found in the tea garden in Chavummann, many of the gardeners, including the women workers, had to stand in the police station yard from morning till evening and became jobless, unemployed and injured. Anyway, as a result of this investigation by the police, some clues related to the case were obtained.
Among the important clues the police got were:
- After 10:00 p.m., Abraham Baby, who was engaged in copra harvesting at Mandamaruthi intersection, saw a priest and a Christian woman walking towards Kannampally in a car after 10 pm.
- In the middle of the night that night, when he heard a woman’s screams saying “Oh my God, are you killing me… my head is broken” and something like a banging sound, Mathai Mathai ‘Unniwriter’ looked with a torch from his own house a hundred and fifty yards away and asked “Who is it” but did not see anything or get an answer, informed the police.
- A woman named Rahel, who was walking from Makappuzha Hospital near Mandamaruthi with a friend named Thankamma, told the police that she saw a Catholic priest (shortly after hearing the screams) at Mandamaruthi and passed them at a very high speed towards the south, panicking.
The police had received information from Maryakutty’s family that Maryakutty had a relationship with a Catholic priest. But the family does not know that priest. Therefore, Fr. Madukakuzhi was taken into custody by the investigation team and interrogated in the ‘Police Mura’. But it was no use…
Then there was a conversation among the people at the tea shop in Ranni. The rumor was that the murdered Mariakutty was the daughter of a priest’s brother.
Mr. Raju, a car owner (KLQ 3729) who had been staying at the lodge near the tea shop for over a month and was auctioning and cutting coppice, was there as an audience. He expressed doubt that a priest was taken to Tiruvalla after half past one last night and that he was this priest.
This discussion in the tea shop came to the attention of the police. The police took Raju, the car owner, and Baby, who called Raju’s car and went with him, into custody and interrogated him.
Baby testified that an uncle called Baby, who was doing an urgent job with his colleague Kuryakos, at the Chandrika workshop, and asked if he could get a taxi driver to go to the hospital.
Raju testified that as the car was low on petrol, he got petrol from the nearest pump and because he was reluctant to go alone with a stranger in the middle of the night, he took a priest dressed in the car along with the baby and left him at Tiruvalla Kurishukavala.
He said that the ‘priest’ was from Changanaseri and that he was going to see him at night because his father was in critical condition in the hospital; Raju said that when they went to Tiruvalla railway station and came back after drinking black coffee, they saw him standing at the same place where they got off, so they asked if they should take him away, but they said no and sent him back, saying that they would recognize him if they saw him.
Based on these tips, the police’s investigation extended to Changanassery and Alappuzha. Thus, the police got a clear indication about the priest who had a relationship with Maryakutty.
The laundry mark on the bed sheet where Maryakutty’s body was lying became a guide. Euseb, the washerman at the Changanassery monastery, recognized the laundry tag and told him the name of the person who had given it to him to wash – Benedictine, the caretaker of the orphanage!
In 1959, Fr.Benedict was ordained in Onamkulam. His elder brother Sebastian Joseph is also a priest. Sister Gloria SABS and Sister Amala SABS are sisters. After working as an assistant in Kanjirapalli, thirty-two-year-old Fr. Benedict was vicar of St. Mary’s Church, Kannampally, Ranni – Perunnadu at Kannampallypally near Ranni during 1960-62.
At that time, people used to go to Kannampalli on foot from Mandamaruthi. That’s why he got familiar with the place. While working at Kannampally, he was transferred to the Chakkarakadav church in Alappuzha in May 1962, following some burials.
Poor Maryakutty was a member of St. Michael’s Church in Alappuzha Thatthampally, a neighboring parish, in her forties and a mother of 4 children. However, Mariakutty was a very beautiful girl who was full of youth.
Maryakutty married for the third time as her first two husbands died. Kochuthresya and Chinnamma were born from the first husband, and two boys were born from the third husband, Kunjachan, Sivichan and Thangachan. (Devasi, the second husband, had no children.) However, Kunjachan died in 1966 after being paralyzed for three years.
Maryakutty used to come to Chakarakadavupalli to buy wheat and milk powder from the church to alleviate the poverty of the large family consisting of her mother, brothers Thomma and Chacko, her tired husband and 4 children. Often alone and late.
The constant contact with Mariakutti and the beauty of Mariakutti made Benedict, who was only thirty-seven years old, fall into a pit! But, the game is serious, Mariakutty got pregnant! It had been almost a year since the third husband was paralyzed! That’s when this pregnancy! This caused an uproar. After the fight that ensued, the husband broke up and left with his children from his first marriage. Following this, Mariakutty and Benedict’s illicit relationship became a song in the country.
After this controversy, Changanassery Bishop Kavukat immediately removed him from the parish administration and appointed him as the manager of St. Joseph’s Orphanage and Printing Press, which is right in front of the Changanassery Cathedral. (Still this is how the church authorities protect pattans… Pattans can have illicit relationships; only no one knows. If they know, if these women get pregnant, the priests will be deported abroad and the women will be deported to a secret center…! In 2015, a meditation teacher who made two nuns pregnant together was transferred to America and the nuns to a hospital!! The hospital is also useful…!)
In due course Mary gave birth to a baby boy. He was called Joymon. Maryakutty, who was poor, found it more difficult to live. So approached the person responsible for the solution. Benedict reached the orphanage in Changanassery with the baby in his arms and created a commotion. Benedict then made a promise. Expenses can be paid twice a month. Accordingly the Virgin Mary came and received from Benedict the money for the expenses and the reward. That ‘bond’ continued in the comfort of the orphanage. This became a great nuisance to the priests and the bishop of the diocese. They scolded Benedict and asked him to fix it. But Benedict, who loved Mariakutty, ignored it. Then, a group of priests said that Kuppayamuri should marry and live. Fr.Benedict shared this suggestion with Mariakutty; She also agrees. Fr.Benedict loved Maryakutty so much. With this, Mariakutty began to force Benedict for marriage.
Once, Mariakutty went to see Benedict with the eldest child, Sivichan. He consulted his priest friends in Aramana to find a solution! (It was that idea that pushed him to take action. He was brainwashed by the evil counselors!) Following
this discussion, a mission team of priests went to the Chakkarakadav church in a car and called Maryakutty there, Maryakutty’s brother Chakochettan recalls. ‘I will give you some money to bring up Joykutty. “No more seeing or contacting Benedict or bothering him for money,” was the settlement proposal. Maryakutty rejected it. She was adamant that Benedict marry her.
June 4, 1966. As usual, Fr. Benedict sent a message to Mariakutty who came with Joymon to the press in Changanassery to meet her father and collect money, that she should come without the child on June 15, that a house and a place had been found and that the child would be an obstacle when going there.
Accordingly, Maryakutty, who came on June 15, first came to the house of Philipos, a brother called Kunjachan, who lives in Changanassery. From there they went to the Benedictine. Fr. Benedict began his journey to see the house.
The target was Mandamaruthi in Kannampallykadam, where Benedict was previously a vicar. He was familiar with this place. Are these the ones Abraham Baby, the worker at the copra kiln, said he saw the young man and the young woman who landed at Mandamaruthi at the wrong time? Perhaps he saw Father Benedict Onamkulam himself?
Fr. It must be ascertained that Benedict himself was present at Mandamaruti and Ranni. DySP Ramanathan and C.I. Under the leadership of K.M.Joseph, Raju and Baby reached the bishop’s palace in Changanassery. (At that time bishops’ houses were called aramana.)
After bringing Raju and Baby to the yard, the officers went inside saying that if anyone came down, they should pay attention! They got down a little later and put Raju and Baby back in the vehicle and got out from there and entered the courtyard of the press in front of the palace.
As soon as he saw the police in the vehicle, a priest came out of the room and went to the back side through the veranda. Raju and Baby in the vehicle saw and recognized him. The officers went behind him and asked for his name and entered the office saying that he had come to see the rater to hand over some printing work. After a while he went back.
They testified that they had taken Achan to Thiruvalla, whom they had seen in the press! Fr. The police confirmed that Benedict was the killer. But at a time when the Catholic Church was on fire as a fierce leader by overthrowing the government through the liberation struggle, the police realized the danger of arresting a Catholic priest as a suspect in a murder case. That too, a priest under Bishop Kavukat who led that struggle! So the police decided to avoid arrest at Changanassery.
The police made a strategic move. If the investigators want to meet the Kavukat bishop and release Madukakuzhiachan who is in police custody, Fr. Benedict was also asked to give a statement and for that Benedictachen should be sent to the Kollam Police Club! The venerable bishop of Kavukat sent them back saying he would think about it and tell them.
The bishop summoned the Benedictine and hurried things along. Fr. Benedict apologized to the bishop saying that he was wrong! Benedictan was sent to the Kollam Police Club in the evening by car with A.A.Joseph, the lawyer handling the diocese’s case; Enough to reach Kollam at night!
The police who received Fr. Benedict at the Kollam Police Club sent the lawyer back in the same car as he had come, saying that he would be brought back to Aramana the next day.
The police let the father sleep that night and started the interrogation the next day. The experience of Madukakuzhi and the abundance of evidence Fr. Benedict was exhausted.! Journalist KM Roy recalls that investigating officer DySP KV Ramanathan said that he had to give only one kick. Moreover, Fr Ramanathan said that the police did not beat him and stopped the constable who dared to beat him. Benedict has also testified. With the first blow, Benedict told everything in detail and confessed to the crime!!
He arrived at Mandamaruthi in the car of Mathai Chacko (KLA 1542) and from Thiruvalla he reached the orphanage in Changanassery in the taxi car of Muhammad Nuh (KLA 1634) at 4:00 p.m. Benedict said. Even the police were surprised when the car driver Raju forgot that he paid Rs 10 and filled the car with petrol at Rs 9 20 paise and left in a hurry without buying the rest from the pump. (Petrol pump employee Thomas Edikula has testified to this fact’) The
police were shocked to hear the policeman’s statement that he committed the murder only after feeling the body of Maryakutty at the last moment. Maryakutty, who was idle, was hit on the head with a torch, but it fell on the face! Mariakutty’s throat was cut when she screamed in pain!!!
DYSP who understood the seriousness of the matter. Ramanathan had recorded Fr. Benedict’s entire statement. He said that the church authorities and other leaders of the community, who knew that Fr. Benedict would be trapped, put tremendous pressure on him to refer the case, journalist Mr. KM Roy remembers. They were ready to spend any amount of money for that! A petition was also submitted to the Governor.
DySP Ramanathan informed his superiors.
Jairam Patikal, who was trained at Scotland Yard, was the District Superintendent of Police at that time. Realizing the seriousness of the matter, the superiors made a proposal: go to the bishop’s house and convince Archbishop Kavukat. If he doesn’t agree, refer the case for insufficient evidence!
As directed, DySP Ramanathan reached the Changanassery temple on July 31 and explained the matter to Bishop Mar Kavukattil to hear the statement and confession. The bishop of Kavukatu, tired of hearing everything, told the police to arrest him if they were convinced that Benedict had killed him.
Thus, the arrest of Benedict, who was taken into police custody on July 26, was recorded and presented to the court on August 1. To the regular court question whether there is any complaint against the police, Fr. Benedict replied that ‘nothing, the police did not harm’.
Malayalam shook after hearing the news of Fr Benedict Onamkulam’s arrest. Kerala was then under President’s rule.
After taking evidence with Fr. Benedict, the police recovered the knife used for the murder from the bank of the small stream crossing the Mandamaruthi-Madatharuvi road while the locals looked on. On the day of the incident, most of the witnesses found the blue bag (used to store the knife and clothes), the iron (stained with blood), a 3-battery torch and an umbrella in Benedict’s room.
The police produced 42 witnesses for the prosecution. Among them, the Kusinikar of the orphanage who testified that he saw the Benedictine burning some things in the cut stone pit behind the orphanage after saying mass on the morning of June 16, Kapyar of the Chakkarakadav church who told the truth about the chatterings of Chakkarakadav, the laundresses of Aramana, Rahel, car driver Raju, mother Mariamma, brother Chacko, daughter Kochuthresya, garden owner, Abraham Baby also kept his statement. All of them were Catholics except Raju (Canaanite Jacobites).
6 witnesses defected. Sarada, the plantation worker who first saw the body, did not testify in court.
The eldest son, ten-year-old Sivichan, was the only witness to Maryakutty’s visit to Badikt. In order not to testify, the diocese’s henchmen abducted Sivichan and kept him in hiding for more than a month. Maryakutty’s own brother Thomma was used for that! The story goes that when the prisoners in police custody were taken to the beach to get some fresh air, Thomma stole the police’s ‘eyeball’ and smuggled Sivichan away.
Sivichan was brought to Neendakara by sea by fishing boat and from there was taken to Mangalore by fishing boat! It is said that a rich man named Eepachan Kocheri of Alappuzha took the helm.
It is also said that the boy and his uncle were later smuggled to Bangalore by a millionaire Kuruvinakunnel Kuruvachan, a milkman!
His elder brother Chakochettan said that Kunjachan later said that Thomma did it for him because the church members threatened him that he would not be allowed to live in Changanassery if Sivichhan testified.
The court intervened and brought Sivichan to the court due to the complaint filed by Mariamma after the child went missing. By then, Sivichan was recanted as the interested parties managed to get him to sing. Kunjachan and his wife changed their statements in court! Mathai Chacko, the taxi driver who brought Benedict and Maryakutty from Tiruvalla to Mandamaruti, also defected and joined the defense.
However, the statements of the mother Mariamma, elder Kochuthresya and brother Chacko, who remained firm despite the intense pressure, were so strong as to prove the relationship between Maryakutty and Benedict.
Other similar statements by his brother Chackochettan (died 2011), who suffered much for Mariakutty,
seemed to confirm Benedict’s role. None of these were Benedict’s acquaintances or enemies. But the priests of Aramona testified in favor of Benedict in court. After this, Benedict, who lost his mind, even told the court that he did not know Maryakutty and that he confessed to the crime after being beaten by the police!
But the court sentenced Benedict to death because he was found guilty on the basis of strong circumstantial evidence – November 18, 1966!
Guilt-ridden Benedict was ready to accept the punishment. However, the diocese’s Priests’ Association and Church Pramani’s Association, which suffered a loss of prestige, conducted a special fund collection and filed an appeal in the Kerala High Court. India’s most eminent Adv. ASR Chari, a Supreme Court lawyer, was presented and argued for Benedict.
The forensic report that a bloodstain was found on a knife that had been lying in the dirt and rain for over a month is not admissible, the suspect’s identification was not paraded, much of the testimony of Mariamma, Kochuchresya, and Chacko is hearsay, the testimony of seeing Benedict before and after the incident seemed contrived, the washerman’s recognition of the laundry mark is questionable, the fact that they had sex on the hard surface of a busy road is strange. , that the prosecution has failed to prove its case by framing feeble and strange lines such as it is unbelievable that the accused went to the place and came back wearing the priestly garb Loha; May have reached Mandamaruthi as part of Maryakutty’s profession; She may have been killed with more than one weapon by those who sought refuge in Maryakutty; Acting Chief Justice P.T. Raman Nair, J. Benedict was acquitted on April 7, 1967 by a bench comprising VP Gopalannambyar.
Meanwhile, on March 3, 1967, this MS. The communist government, which came to power but was not freed from the fear of the liberation struggle, succumbed to strong political pressures. So the government, which was supposed to appeal, saved the church and the landlord without submitting an appeal to the Supreme Court in order to please the church authorities!
Priests and ‘guardians’ also approached Kavukatu Bishop to welcome Benedict who was released from prison. But the bishop forbade it. But they did a great reception! Despite this, the bishop stood firm in his conviction that Benedict was guilty and banished Benedict to the Mayam Parish Church, a mission center in Tamil Nadu, without giving him a parish charge!! (But Benedict is said to have continued his ‘habit’ and participated in the killing of a married woman in order to satisfy her husband.)
After 12 long years of exile, Fr. Benedict was brought back to Kerala in 1981 by the Bishop, who was entrusted with the charge of the Kadayanikkad Orphanage near Pathanad.
Joymon testifies that he went there with the journalist and sister who arranged the meeting to meet his mother’s killer, Benedict, as he repeatedly demanded to see Maryakutty’s son there.
Joymon remembers that scene like it was now.
“I am sixteen years old. He brutally killed my mother and left me an orphan at the age of three. He decided to go many times because of the thought that he was called to kill me as the remaining evidence. At least I can see my father and die! When I went, my father was in front of the orphanage. He saw me and walked towards the gate. Tried to laugh. He asked me my name. I said, Maryakutty’s son Joymon! As soon as he heard it, he trembled! Suddenly he grabbed the gate. But even the gate was trembling. Then in a trembling voice he said, ‘Forgive me, my dear… I have nothing to give you.’ His eyes filled with tears. I didn’t want to stay here anymore. Went back soon.”
Joimon said helplessly.
In November 2000, the Maryakutty murder case, which was forgotten by everyone, became news again. Mangalam newspaper reported the news – ‘The children of the real accused in the Maryakutty murder case apologized to Father Benedict’.
Behind this story was a clever conspiracy by a group of priests.
A woman from a family in Kanjirapalli Mundakayath ‘Br. Went to meditate and pray at a charismatic prayer house run by Benny Vechuchira’ (As far as I know about Tian, there are ‘features’ to write a book about. Many are not worth writing about. That can be done later.)
A meditation guru named Joy Chittoor was also leading the prayer there.
One day while attending the fasting prayer, T woman had an aphrodisiac; And there was something called out! Later during counseling their family problems – property division dispute and lawsuit and conflict with brother; My father, who was a doctor in the army, told everything about the clinic he ran in the country.
Understanding the family problems, Br. Benny had a revelation one day,
“This sister’s family has been cursed by priests. That is the cause of their misery! So they should come with the whole family and meditate and beg for forgiveness.!!”
On hearing this, the sisters all went and started causing trouble in the house to apologize. The distraught mother (the father, a doctor, had died) and siblings came to the prayer hall, participated in meditation and prayer, and asked for forgiveness.
Then the dramatic events take place. Br. Bunny saw each one and understood the family affairs exactly. With that, Bunny realized that the whole family was in trouble and that they were in trouble. With that, in consultation with the priests, Br. Benny decided. Accordingly, Banni suggested that he should meet the priest in person and beg for forgiveness for complete forgiveness.
Then on January 14, 2000, Brother Benny’s vehicle, a red Maruti van, went to the priest’s home near Mudioorkara (near Kottayam Medical College). Br. Benny confesses his apology! Only then do they know that the crime in the Maryakutty murder case was taken by them!
One of them directly told us that when they realized that they had been cheated, they immediately denied it.
On learning this, the then Bishop Pouvvathil visited Benedict on January 17 and asked for information. But Benedict himself said that the incident should not be made news! Because he was afraid that he would get into trouble again because he knew what the truth was!
However, the arts department of the diocese started preparations to turn it into a stage play. Knowing this, T’s family came to the diocesan headquarters and threatened to commit suicide. As a result, the diocese abandoned the effort.
Unable to live in the country due to the ridicule and insults of the locals, they have sold their property in Kanjirapalli and are living secretly in Pathanamthitta.
(When we rushed in, the man asked in a hoarse voice, ‘Won’t you give me peace here too’. We talked and said that they were not enemies, but came to make amends for your humiliation, and finally parted very lovingly. Although I took a picture and a video, I can’t post it here because I promised not to publish it.) Due to
an unexpected interruption in the program, for 11 months up to November 2000 This ‘apology drama’ covered the news. Fr. According to George Perincherimann, on November 24, Mangalam Agent (Jordi Malail) was reporting T news. The next day, Deepika and Manorama caught up, followed by Mathrubhumi
Benedict died on January 3, 2001, a month and a week after the news of the ‘apology drama’ broke. After that in December 2001, MJ Kalappuraikkal CMI (Deepika Kochettan) a Pattakaran Fr. Distraught at the humiliation of the clergy due to Benedict, he wrote and published a book – Agnishuddhi!
The argument in the book is that Benedict was sentenced to death on the basis of fabricated evidence by the police and the media. It is in that book that the ‘capitalist’ Manimaleth Pailochan, the mandamaruthikar, is first exposed. (There is a reason for this use of “Mudamalai.” Mundukottaikkal Kora, the former owner of the tea plantation where the body was found, was called “Mudamali”! He died on June 10, 1966.) At the beginning of the investigation, the police learned that the bed sheet on which the body was lying was of the type used in hostels. One of T Pailo’s daughters was staying and studying in the hostel at that time. So the police rushed to Pailo’s house.
As the eldest brother, Pailo, who worked in his own fields and took care of his younger siblings, had a 4th grade education! This ‘capitalist!’ The author Fr. What the barn sweeper says!
The story goes that Maryakutty got Joymon through an illicit relationship with Pylo there and when Maryakutty got pregnant again, an abortion was performed at the clinic of a doctor in Kanjirapalli who was a friend of Pylochan, and Mariakutty died as a result and then she was brought to Mandamaruti and left in a tea garden with stab wounds.
(It is noteworthy that during the trial of the murder case, this pregnancy was not present. The post-mortem report states that Maryakutty was not pregnant.)
There are a lot of mismatched links in the barn story.
If the witnesses and evidence were fabricated by the police, why did most of the Catholics among the witnesses, including the Kapyar of the Chakkarakadav Church, the washerman and the Kusinikar of the Changanassery Cathedral, who were dependents of the diocese, stand by their statements?
Fr. Why did the church leadership put pressure on Benedict to refer the case as soon as he was taken into police custody and petitioned the governor for that?
How did Mariakutty’s brother Kunjachan Phillipos and his wife living in Changanassery and Thomma in Alappuzha and Maryakutty’s abducted son defect?
How much more serious is murder than illegal abortion? So why did the boss try to make death a murder?
In those days, a boss would have no difficulty in showing a worker as a defendant. And why did he attempt this foolish act of imprisoning himself?
Another problem is the distance from Kanjirapalli to Mandamaruti. Mandamaruti can be reached from Kanjirapalli only by traveling for about 2 hours. After that much time, the corpse will not bleed that much. (The post-mortem report states that all the wounds were inflicted before death. The post-mortem report could not be overturned in this case in the event that the murdered Maryakutty or the accused Benedict were not identified!)
It is said that he was brought alone in Paulochan’s jeep and put in the tea garden. (If there were helpers, a Catholic priest would have come to the scene if he knew that he was trapped!) The body of Mariakutty, which weighed more than 63 kg, could not have been carried away by one person alone. And because Pilot was not so healthy.
Moreover, as the story says, Pylo did not have a jeep. (His children, who now live in luxury, have cars.)
Coming from Kanjirapalli to Mandamaruthi is through the dense forest called Ponthanpuzha. Even now it is a dense forest. This place was far away from Pilochan’s house and it was more convenient to leave the body. Then it would not even be possible to find it. If Pilochan did the killing, why didn’t he do it?
Not only did Pilotchan not work in Alappuzha, he never even went there!
If the story was true, why did the author, a priest, apologize to Manimalet’s family?
How did Baby, who was a witness in the Maryakutty murder case and was only a helper in the defected Chandrika workshop, become a tourist bus owner soon after the case?
How did Sivichan, the son of Mariyakutty, who was in the custody of the authorities for more than a month during the trial of the case, become more wealthy than the other sons of wage laborers and colonists, owning his own house and shop? (He usually shouts and dares to attack those who discuss the T incident. He is not friendly with other brothers. Although we contacted him through someone, he was not ready to talk to the investigation team. As I did not have the courage to contact him directly, I could only observe from a distance and return. I also lost the picture taken that day.)
Most important is the legal issue involved in disclosure. If there is such a disclosure, the person to whom it is disclosed is bound to inform the police and take necessary action to punish the culprits. Or the government should file a case on its own. (Remember the Naxal Varghese killing and MM Mani cases) This has not happened twice. Looking at it that way, Benedict and the bishop are guilty of poverty.
Manimalet Pylo’s children who came to know about the Shuddhiilla story in Agnishuddhi came forward against the reference in T book. (Except for this story, the description in the book is all true) If the above reference is not withdrawn from the book and apologized, the author, Fr. MJ Manimaleth Pilochan’s son MP Jacob Fr. A letter was sent to the barn sweeper.
After that, Fr. Kalapurakkal published an apology to Manorama and Deepika and assured in writing that only the new edition of the book, which omitted the mentioned part, will be sold. (The same book was re-sold by worthless counterfeiters. An abridged version of it by C. Dr. Lino Margaret Potanani SABS(!) is now being sold as ‘Fire Star of Athirampuzha’. The same story is in the T book, only without the name of Pilothan.)
Propaganda is that Dr. T’s children are dumb and that’s why they apologized. (The question of how the dullards apologized does not arise, because the question is irrelevant in the Vanakamasaka story!) It is true that one of the five children of the doctor in the story is like that. But he was born in 1952. Even if the doctor is responsible, how can he be punished before the crime is committed!? Is it only the doctor who has children like this? So why was Benedict paralyzed for 5 years?
Father Benedict was responsible for distributing wheat and milk powder for the poor of the church at Chakkarappalli in Alappuzha. This priest knew the poverty of Maryakutty’s family. Whenever they needed financial help from the church was also done through Achan.
Father Benedict had served in the Alappuzha Church, Changanassery and Mandamaruthi and the police suspected him.
There were eyewitness accounts of people in Mandamaruti who saw a priest together with a woman. There were also speculations that Father Benedict was the father of Maryakutty’s youngest son. Because of that, there were stories that Mariakutty was always bothering Father Benedict. Eventually, it was rumored that Father Benedict planned to kill them.
Father Benedict was taken into police custody in connection with the murder case of Maryakutty. A large crowd had gathered at Mandamaruthi when Father Benedict was brought under police escort to take evidence.
Achan, who got down in the police jeep, without any doubt, without looking left or right, walked and showed the exact place where Maryakutty was killed. There were eyewitnesses who looked at it in amazement. The place where the knife was thrown was also pointed out without doubt.
The inmates had also given evidence that the Benedictine was not in the Changanassery monastery on the nights of the murder. Later, when the time came to be examined as a witness in the court, they all gave their reasons and drowned.
Father Benedict Onamkulam was arrested on June 26, 1966. He was found guilty by the Kollam Sessions Court.
On November 10, 1966, he was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment and to be hanged till death. All of the court arguments in Father Benedict’s case were based on circumstantial evidence. There were no eyewitnesses to the incident. Documents of suspicion were presented in the courts. At the same time, there are those who saw Father Benedict in a robe at dusk on the day he was killed in Mandamaruthi.
Mathew Kavukat, then the Bishop of Changanassery, was not made a witness for fear that the truth would come out if he was interrogated. The bishop was of the opinion that whoever committed the crime should be punished.
Most of the lay people at the time thought that Father Benedict was innocent. The Catholic Church then appealed to the High Court. Judge P.T. Raman Nair and co-judge V.P. It was from Gopalan’s bench that Father Benedict was acquitted. High Court Advocate K.T. Thomas and eminent Supreme Court lawyer ASR Chari jointly argued the case for Father Benedict at that time. He was released from Thiruvananthapuram jail the day after the verdict. On the way back to Changanassery, a huge crowd was standing on both sides of the road. The people thronging Changanassery gave him a warm welcome.
Advocate Chari was born in 1908 in Secunderabad. He was the youngest of six children of a railway clerk. He was the greatest criminal lawyer known in India during the 1950s-1960s. He was also a famous advocate of constitutional laws and labor laws. He was also involved in the freedom struggle in his youth. Later he joined the Communist Party and was subjected to many political arrests. He was imprisoned several times. In 1954, he was a famous senior advocate in the Supreme Court. From a young age he was fascinated by communist ideas. There was a saying in those days that cases taken up by an advocate never fail. Chari argued that it is not possible to kill even a chicken with the knife that is believed to have killed Maryakutty. ‘Chari’ had also questioned the testimony of the witness that he recognized the face of the unknown killer in Chotu Vettam on a moonlit night. A turbaned priest, who was noticed walking alone even during the day, also told the court that he was seen walking with a woman at dusk as unbelievable.
Mr. Article written by KM Roy in Mangalam newspaper.
Mariyakutty’s murder: Some things that I have come to know is the incident that
happened 45 years ago in the Mandamaruthi forest area near Ranni. The Kollam Sessions Court awarded the death penalty to a Catholic priest named Benedict. In 1967, the Kerala High Court quashed that death sentence.
It is a murder that made a lot of noise in Kerala. At that time I was working as an associate editor in the Desabandhu daily published from Kottayam. Most of those involved in the case, not just Father Benedict, are dead. Ten years ago there were some newspaper reports that Father Benedict was innocent in this case, that someone else had committed the murder, and that the family members of the murderer were confessing to the crime.
After that, recently Fr. Efforts are being made by a group of priests in Athirampuzha of the Catholic Church to raise Benedict to the rank of saint. There is another section of Catholics who oppose such efforts. DYSP who was assigned to investigate the murder of Maryakutty at that time, K.V. I felt it was my moral duty to record here some of the things Ramanathan told me. Ramanathan is the brother of Malayathur Ramakrishnan, who was a secretary in the Kerala government service.
Incidentally, K.V. was staying in the room of Ernakulam Bharat Tourist Home. Ramanathan narrated the incident. The instruction given to him by the police superiors is to carry out an honest investigation into the murder which would have been wasted. When Ramanathan was talking about these things, the owner of Desabandhu newspaper P. Narayan Nair (Swaraj Mani) who later became a Minister of PSP. Leader P.K. There was a baby.
This was the first case in Kerala involving a Catholic priest in a murder case. Normally Kerala Police would not have investigated such a case. However, a detailed report on Maryakutty’s murder was published in Kalanilayam Krishnanair’s newspaper ‘Taninira’ with photographs. It was a photograph of a half-naked corpse with a few stab wounds. The state government was forced to conduct an inquiry into the incident when reports about it were published over the next few days.
That is how DYSP investigated the incident. KV Ramanathan was handed over by the government. The instructions of the police superiors were to refer the case on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence if no very clear evidence was found after conducting the investigation. Ramanathan said that there was great pressure and temptation on him to refer the case for lack of evidence. For that, the most influential people in the Catholic Church came forward to pay him as a bribe. But Ramanathan said he decided to be honest with his conscience.
At the Kollam Police Club, Fr. Benedict was interrogated by Ramanathan and his team. A single slap is the way to tell the truth. Ramanathan said that it was given to Benedict. When the father was sitting on a chair in the police club, he kicked him on the back of the neck. The father winced under the blow. Normally, anyone who hasn’t endured such beatings and pains can no longer hold back. Another thing is that no habitual criminals who can be called habitual criminals will tell the truth even if they are beaten like that.
After many years, Fr. Benedict said. Ramanathan told me that Father Benedict recounted all the events that followed his single blow as a parrot would. That is how Ramanathan described the matter before the police chiefs including the IG with clear evidence.
However, the instruction received from the police chiefs is that despite the clear evidence, the then Archbishop of Changanassery, Mar Mathew Kavukat, should go to Aramana and explain. After that, if the archbishop says that Benedict Achan should be charged with murder, then the case should be referred and dropped because there is insufficient evidence. That is how he went to Changanassery to meet the Archbishop.
As soon as the initial investigation was conducted, Fr. KV said that he had no qualms about punishing Benedict. Ramanathan said.
“That is why I went to Aramana to see the Archbishop of Changanassery and to give him all the information I had learned.”
“I was convinced by the sight that the late Archbishop Mathew Kavukat was a very sattvic religious leader. I explained to him all the information I was able to collect while staying with him. Fr. All the evidence that Benedict killed Mariakutty was explained.”
“After hearing everything, the Archbishop asked me Fr. Are you completely convinced that Benedict himself committed this murder? When I answered yes, the archbishop became completely silent.
After closing his eyes as if he were meditating for a while, he turned to me and said, “Then surely you should charge the case for murder in the name of Father Benedict.”
That is how Fr. State Police I.G. to charge the murder case in the name of Benedict. Ramanathan told me then that he was given permission and thus charged with murder.
Kollam District Sessions Court tried this murder case Fr. Benedict was sentenced to death. In an appeal against that verdict, Kerala High Court Justices P.T. Raman Nair and V.P. For the reason that the prosecution has not been able to prove Gopalan Nambiar’s crime unequivocally, Fr. Benedict was left alone. A.S.R., a famous criminal lawyer in India at that time, appeared for Benedict Achan. Chari argued.
CPM in Kerala that day. Leader E.M.S. Seven party front government led by Namboothiripad came to power. Fr. Joseph Vadkan-led Agricultural Workers Party member and its MLA B. Wellington was also Minister of Health.
Fr. EMS said that there is no need to appeal the High Court verdict due to the influence exerted by the Northern Front leadership. It was decided by the cabinet. It was an unusual occurrence in the judiciary itself that the government did not file an appeal against the High Court acquitting the accused in a case convicted by the Sessions Court on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
On June 16, 1966, Maryakutty was found murdered in Mandamaruthi forest area.
On November 18, 1966, Fr. Kollam District Sessions Court sentenced Benedict to death.
On May 7, 1967, the Kerala High Court dismissed Fr. And Benedict was left alone.
Ten years ago Fr. Benedict died of old age and paralysis. 34 years after the murder, the wife and children of a doctor in Kanjirapalli came to see Benedict Achan; that Maryakutty died during her husband’s attempt to abort the pregnancy of Maryakutty, who had become pregnant by an estate owner; Later on, she said that her husband and others stabbed her and took her to the Mandamaruthi forest and dumped Maryakutty’s dead body.
Another thing is that the family members of the controversial doctor denied the incident saying it was a myth.
I will not go into the details of it. I have no interest in that. There are only three people who know the truth. Maryakutty and another Fr. Benedict and the other God. Since Maryakutty and Benedict Achan are no longer alive, it is no longer possible for anyone to rely on their testimony.
