Thiruvananthapuram, May 13 Thiruvananthapuram Additional District and Sessions Court VI on Tuesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 15 lakh on him for murdering four members of his family -- his parents, sister and aunt in Nathancode.
On Monday, the court found Cadell J. Raja guilty.
Raja was asked to pay the fine to his uncle, Jose, a piano teacher.
Raja, who lived here with his then 60-year-old father, mother, his sister and his blind aunt, murdered them over two days in April 2017.
After murdering the four, three of the bodies were found burnt, while one was found in a mutilated and decomposed state, when the Police broke open the door of the house after a few days.
Raja had a serious difference of opinion with his father because the latter sent him to study medicine in Ukraine and then for a computer course in Australia against his wishes.
After a while, Raja discontinued both the courses, which led to frequent arguments between him and his father.
Incidentally, after eliminating all four, Raja left for Chennai. A few days later, when Raja returned, he was arrested.
Even though Raja claimed he was away in Chennai when the murder took place, the police cracked his defence by proving his presence in the house through scientific means.
The police were clueless about his explanation, and later their probe revealed that Raja had murdered each of them in a well-planned manner.
Before doing it, he disconnected CCTV cameras in the house and isolated each victim before attacking them.
When the forensic reports surfaced, it revealed that he used dummy figures on how each person should be killed and bought weapons, including knives and axes, online.
He also had sourced chemicals and used them to wash the blood stains after each murder.
Investigations revealed that Raja watched violent video games.
The police dismissed his theory that he committed this crime as part of an experiment in 'astral projection', a pseudoscientific belief in out-of-body experiences.
Initially, the trial got delayed as he was given treatment for the mental ailment, then came the COVID pandemic, and during the trial, the prosecution maintained that the murders were premeditated and deliberate, pointing to the detailed planning and execution, while his counsel on Tuesday pointed out that he was mentally unstable.
While in jail, he surprised many co-prisoners, saying that he often spoke to his parents as he was an expert in astral projection and could speak with spirits.
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