‘Chenthamara’ means red lotus in Malayalam. For Kerala’s Palakkad, however, the name now has a bloody connotation. On Monday, a district court sentenced 61-year-old Chenthamara to death for twin murders in 2025.
He committed the two murders when he was out on bail after being arrested for a murder in 2019. The first victim was a young mother, Sajitha. Chenthamara killed Sajitha’s husband Sudhakaran and his mother Lakshmi Amma last year. In October last year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2019 murder.
What stood out for the court as it deliberated on whether the killings met the ‘rarest of rare’ criteria for a death penalty was his complete lack of remorse.
‘No trace of remorse’
While awarding the death sentence in the twin murder case, the additional district sessions court in Palakkad said, “There is no trace of remorse discernible in his conduct. He continues to defend his own cause with defiance. Materials clearly establish that the chance of reformation is virtually nil. He exhibits a hardened criminal disposition, unrepentant in attitude and unrestrained in action. His continued justification of his deeds reinforces the conclusion that he poses a grave and continuing threat to the social order.’’
After examining the prosecution’s arguments and witnesses, the court said that Chenthamara is a threat to the daughters of Sudhakaran and Sajitha, and two other women witnesses in the case, who have already been forced to leave their home out of fear.
From friendship to murder
Chenthamara’s murder spree followed a close friendship with Sudhakaran. Both worked as truck drivers and were neighbours too. The families spent time together.
Chenthamara’s brother Radhakrishnan recalls, “My brother is a school dropout, and his wife Vilasini is a graduate. Theirs was a love marriage. But he did not maintain good relations with us. He loved his wife and daughter, who now works as an assistant engineer with the Kerala Water Authority. He felt his wife betrayed him, and this led to a strained relationship.’’
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According to relatives, personal issues took a toll on his job as a driver, and he could not concentrate on work. Chenthamara, they say, was superstitious and felt that someone had performed black magic to harm him.
Deputy Superintendent of Police N Muraleedharan, who probed the three murders, said, “Chenthamara believed his neighbours had performed black magic against him. He sought the advice of someone who performs occult rituals, and was told that a woman with long hair had performed black magic. He suspected Sajitha,’’ said the officer.
Vilasini and Sajitha worked in the rural job guarantee scheme, MGNREGA. Vilasini was the scheme’s local supervisor, and Chenthamara asked her to remove Sajitha and two other women from the list of workers. Vilasini was not ready to do this. This led to altercations, and in 2018, Chenthamara attacked Vilasini with a sword. She left their home with her daughter and never returned. This only hardened Chenthamara’s suspicion of Sajitha.
The three murders
On August 31, 2019, Chenthamara went to Sudhakaran’s house and hacked Sajitha to death. He was arrested soon after. The trial in the case was delayed, and a court granted Chenthamara bail in December 2024 on the condition that he would not enter the Nenmara panchayat area where he and Sudhakaran’s family lived.
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Chenthamara defied the court’s order and returned home. This triggered fear in the area, and nearly 20 residents approached police for action and said they fear he may attack them.
Chenthamara’s actions did nothing to allay these fears. He had multiple arguments with Sudhakaran. According to the case records, he told his advocate’s clerk in January 2025 that he had bought a chopper knife and anyone who confronted him would die. He started moving around with the knife. Brandishing it, he told a neighbour, “Have you seen my preparation? This is for cutting down any person approaching on a bike.”
The court quoted a chilling statement he made, “Whether one person is killed or 50, the punishment is the same.’’ On January 26, the case records state, Chenthamara settled his dues at a tea shop and told the owner, “We will not meet again. I have a plan (to commit a crime).”
The next day, he hacked Sudhakaran to death. When Sudhakaran’s mother, Lakshmi Amma, rushed to save him, Chenthamara killed her too. Before he went into hiding, he told a local resident, “For some time now, I am being harassed in various ways. Earlier, I finished off one person. Now, I have finished off two.” He moved to a nearby hill, where he reportedly tried to consume poison before police caught him.
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‘Not a Gandhi follower’
Advocate Ranjith Krishnan, Chief Legal Aid Defence Counsel, conducted multiple interviews with Chenthamara at the prison following the court’s instructions. “Chenthamara has been very obsessed with his family. His wife and daughter never visited him after the 2019 murder. When he returned home after getting bail, he saw Sudhakaran had remarried (after Sajitha’s murder). This sparked another round of rage,’’ he said.
According to case records, in his interviews, Chenthamara was unrepentant and expressed regret only when his wife and daughter were discussed. During an interview with the district probation officer, who examined chances of his reformation, Chenthamara said, “I am not a follower of Gandhiji. If struck on one cheek, I would retaliate with a blow on the other.” In prison, he did not interact with other prisoners.
Muraleedharan, the investigating officer, described Chenthamara as a man who usually looked calm, composed and withdrawn, but could turn violent in an instant. “He attacked a teacher while studying in Class 8 following a disagreement in the classroom. He had always displayed an aggressive and vengeful attitude towards anyone who opposed him. An unwavering belief in superstitions, coupled with baseless suspicions about those around him, gradually hardened his personality, ultimately transforming him into a ruthless killer,” the officer said.