In the wee hours of Wednesday, December 29, a 19-year-old youth was mercilessly stabbed to death by a man for allegedly meeting his daughter in Pettah in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. According to the police the incident occurred at around 4 am, when the 51-year-old Lalan Simon, a resident of Chayakudi Lane at Pettah, stabbed Aneesh George, a resident of Pettah and a student of Bethany College when he found the latter in his daughter’s room. Lalan Simon has been arrested and charged with murder.
The police revealed that the Christian teenage boy and Simon’s daughter were part of the local church choir and were in a relationship. Lalan Simon and his wife knew about the relationship but did not approve of it. Lalan Simon hated the youth for being in a relationship with his daughter. On Wednesday, Aneesh George, who lived only about half a kilometre from Simon’s house, had visited the latter’s house to meet his daughter.
At around 4 am, when Simon found his daughter’s room locked from inside, he broke it open. On finding Aneesh George inside the room with his daughter, the miffed father stabbed the youth on his chest and his back. According to the Kerala police, Aneesh died as a result of serious stab wounds. Lalan’s wife was the one who called the cops and told them about the incident.
Simon, who went to the police station himself to surrender after the incident, at first told the police that he heard a loud noise from his daughter’s bedroom late at night, and mistaking Aneesh for a thief, stabbed him. The police, however, revealed that as per a preliminary investigation, they suspect the crime was motivated by a personal grudge. The Kerala police said that it appears that the accused stabbed the youth after confirming his identity.
“When Lalan knocked on the door, the girl, who was inside, repeatedly told him that there was no stranger in the room. Despite this, Lalan broke the door open and stabbed the victim. This proves that he knew who was inside and committed the crime intentionally,” said a police officer.
Some family members also told the police that Lalan knew Aneesh as his house was close to theirs and he also sang in the church choir along with their daughter.
Lalan has admitted to the crime, according to the police, and will appear in court on Thursday.
According to a report published in a local newspaper, Aneesh had entered Simon’s house through the sunshade. Fingerprint experts and the forensic team have reached Simon’s house where the incident took place. A pair of shoes belonging to the deceased youth has been recovered from the house. His body has been kept at the medical college hospital and will be handed over to his family members after the post mortem.
Meanwhile, the victims’ kins are in a state of shock after the news was broken to them by the police. “When the police told his parents that Aneesh had met with an accident, they were a bit surprised as they thought he was at home. Later, the police told them that he was no more,” said a family member.
