Daily wage earner Padmam struggled to educate her 2 sons
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Her day typically started in the morning waiting to be offered work at a construction site. Sometimes she undertook domestic work to support her family of four.
Being the sole breadwinner, the life of R Padmam, one of the two women allegedly sacrificed as part of a black magic ritual in Elanthoor village in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district, had always been a struggle for survival.
She could never think of luxuries in life and had to always compromise with what little she earned.
“My mother started her daily wage work earning Rs 150 a day. The maximum she could earn was Rs 1,000. Apart from running the family, she educated me and my brother,” says Selvaraj, Padmam’s son.
After remaining without work for about two years during the pandemic, Selvaraj managed to secure a job in an IT firm in Chennai 7 months ago. His elder brother Settu is a teacher.
“Normally, mother used to call regularly and speak to us briefly. She was not even familiar with the mobile phone and knew only to answer calls and tap the speed dial button to make calls to us,” Selvaraj said.
“We became suspicious when we didn’t receive a call from her on September 26 and after frantic attempts to reach her failed, my aunt Palaniamma who lives in Kaloor, Kerala preferred a complaint with the Kadavantra police,” he told PTI.
According to Palaniamma, her sister and her husband came to Kochi 15 years ago to eke out a living.
As news about the twin human sacrifice spread, Errapatti village in Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri district was shell-shocked. Her brother Manoharan and son Settu had to rush to Kerala to identify her body.
Three people, including a couple, were arrested in connection with the human sacrifice by the accused seeking prosperity in their lives.
The chopped body parts of the deceased were exhumed from the premises of the couple’s house in Elanthoor.
The accused Shafi alias Rasheed, of Perumbavur in Ernakulam and a couple Bhagaval Singh and Laila of Elanthoor confessed to the police about the spine-chilling murder. During the interrogation, they revealed that they had sacrificed another woman Rosli of Kalady in a similar fashion.
While Padmam was murdered in the last week of September, Rosli was killed in June.
Padmam, 52, had lived in a rented room at a lodge in Elamkulam in Kochi and 3 months ago her husband returned to Tamil Nadu due to ill health. The facility also housed migrant workers from Tamil Nadu. She had promptly paid the monthly rent of Rs 3,500.
She had also sold lottery in Ammankovil road and Chittoor road areas.
After their blood samples were taken for DNA identification on Thursday, the brothers urged the Kerala government to hand over the mortal remains to perform the last rites in the village.
The siblings mailed a request to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister pleading for the early return of their mother’s body to conduct the final rites in their village. “Following the mail, the Dharmapuri district administration asked us to meet them today. We hope for an early solution,” Selvaraj said.