Mohan held Vaiga's nose and mouth, before forcibly administered her alcohol. He threw her into Muttar river thinking she was dead.
Sanu Mohan and his daughter Vaiga. (Supplied)
A special POCSO court in Kochi has pronounced a verdict of guilt against 42-year-old businessman Sanu Mohan for the murder of his 13-year-old daughter, Vaiga. Mohan was accused of throwing the young girl into the Muttar River on the city’s outskirts after rendering her unconscious through choking.
The incident, which occurred under the cover of darkness on 21 March 2021, sent shockwaves across Kerala.
The court, unequivocally asserting the validity of all charges, including kidnapping, unlawful detention, and administering drugs prior to committing the heinous act, has determined that Mohan will face penalties under various sections of the Juvenile Justice Act.
The court has sentenced Mohan to a life sentence, apart from rigorous imprisonment under different clauses of the Juvenile Justice Act for 28 years. The life term would begin only after completion of 28 years in jail, the court said. Moreover, he will have to pay a fine of ₹1.7 lakh.
According to the 236-page charge sheet filed by the police on 9 July, 2021, Mohan acted alone in executing the crime in his apartment at Kangarapady in the city. Before holding her nose and mouth tight, he forcibly administered her alcohol.
Thinking that she was already dead, Mohan took the unconscious girl in his car and threw her into the Muttar river. The postmortem report confirmed that Vaiga died by drowning.
Mohan, driven by financial distress and indebtedness, hatched a sinister plan to murder Vaiga, intending to escape creditors and forge a new life away from his native Kerala. He had also tried to stage a suicide bid to mislead the investigation, the charge sheet stated.
Mohan had claimed before the police that he had tried to take his own life after killing Vaiga. However, the police later proved that he was lying. Mohan was arrested 10 days after the incident in Karnataka’s coastal town of Karwar.
A day before Vaiga was found dead in the Muttar River, Mohan had visited a relative’s house in Alappuzha along with his wife and Vaiga. After leaving his wife there, Mohan returned to his flat in Kangarappady with Vaiga.
Neighbours later saw Mohan leaving the apartment carrying Vaiga and claiming he was taking her to the hospital as she was not well. Subsequently, both of them went missing and some relatives filed a complaint with the police.
While the investigation to trace Mohan and his daughter was progressing, Vaiga’s body was located in the river. The police soon realised that Vaiga had been murdered and circumstantial evidence showed that only Mohan could have committed the crime. There was also evidence to indicate that he had fled from Kerala.
A massive search was launched for Mohan across the state and other states, too, before he was arrested in Karwar, Karnataka. The charge sheet was filed within 90 days of Mohan’s arrest.
The charge sheet relied on scientific evidence and over 300 witness statements. The police submitted over 100 record documents and over 70 pieces of evidence to the court. The police recovered his car, the ornaments of the child, and the phones that he sold, which later became crucial evidence.
The police had to take him to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Bihar, and Maharashtra for evidence collection as he plotted the murder during business trips to all these locations.
The police also found that the man had a cheating case against him in Maharashtra. The cops also found that he had gambled at a casino in Goa while he was at large. He had sold his car during the escape bid and used the money to gamble, the police said.
Vaiga’s postmortem report mentioned water in her lungs, which suggested that she was breathing before drowning in the river.
Mohan, who was in the steel business in Pune, was wanted by the Economic Offences Wing of the Maharashtra Police in connection with a cheating case involving ₹3 crore. A case was charged five years before the murder, following which he gave the police the slip and came to Kochi.
He used to splurge on lottery tickets and was into gambling as well. It appears that his mounting debts and his wish to escape from India led him to kill his daughter. He said that he did not want his daughter to be “orphaned”, the investigators said.
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