Nanthancode mass murder case: Cadell Jeansen Raja sentenced to life imprisonment

Cadell Jeansen Raja, the sole accused in the infamous Nanthancode mass murder case in Thiruvananthapuram, has been sentenced to life imprisonment and fined ₹15 lakh. The verdict was delivered by the Sixth Additional Sessions Court in Thiruvananthapuram, which had found him guilty on May 12.

 

After committing the murders, Cadell burnt the bodies of his victims and went into hiding. He was later arrested from a hotel in Chennai. While his legal team argued that he suffered from schizophrenia—a chronic mental disorder affecting thought, behaviour, and perception—the court rejected the claim, ruling that the murders were premeditated.

 

Cadell initially claimed occult motivations behind the killings. However, a key witness, Dr Mohan Roy, former assistant professor of psychiatry at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, testified that Cadell showed no signs of mental illness at the time of the crime. Roy also stated that someone with schizophrenia would not be capable of such an organised and calculated act.

 

The prosecution had sought capital punishment, describing the case as one falling under the "rarest of rare" category. The defence, citing Cadell’s young age and alleged mental illness, pleaded for leniency. The court ultimately ruled out the death penalty but upheld the prosecution’s argument that the murders were cold-blooded and pre-planned.

 

Cadell was found guilty of several charges, including murder, destruction of evidence, causing injury with a deadly weapon, unlawful confinement, and destruction of property.

 

The court ordered Cadell to pay ₹15 lakh as compensation to his uncle, Jose Sundaram. Jose, who remains unmarried, had earlier transferred ownership of a four-cent plot and a house in the capital city to Cadell’s mother, Dr Jean Padma. However, she and other family members were murdered shortly thereafter.

 

The verdict directs that the compensation be paid to Jose, who is now confined to a wheelchair and lives without support.

India