Man whose childhood testimony sent 'Ripper' Chandran to gallows found dead in Kasaragod

Kasaragod: Balachandran, the key eyewitness whose testimony helped secure the death sentence for notorious serial killer ‘Ripper’ Chandran, was found dead inside his house near the Vamanjoor checkpost in Manjeshwar on Thursday. He was 53.

Balachandran was 13 years old when he saw Muthukutty Chandran, known as ‘Ripper’ Chandran, hacking his father Narasappayya Hande and his help Vishwanathan to death with a pickaxe at their house at Vamanjoor. His mother, Indira Hande, was also brutally attacked.

Balachandran was found dead by his sister Sasikala, who lives in Mangaluru, after he failed to answer her calls for three days. She reached the house on Wednesday evening and found him dead inside. The house was locked from within. Police conducted the inquest and shifted the body to the mortuary.

Balachandran worked as an assistant to priests at a neighbourhood temple and is survived by Sasikala and another sister, Bharathi.

Balachandran’s testimony proved decisive in securing the death sentence for Ripper Chandran in the 1985 Vamanjoor double murder case. As a 13-year-old boy, Balachandran testified that he saw Chandran entering his house and killing his father and his domestic help while they were sleeping. His mother survived the brutal attack but later died following age-related ailments.

Chandran, a native of Karinthalam near Nileshwar, was convicted of 14 murders between 1985 and 1986. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 13 cases, while the death penalty was awarded in the Vamanjoor double murder case.

After the sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court and the President, 40-year-old Chandran was executed by hanging at Kannur Central Jail on July 6, 1991. That was the last execution carried out in Kerala.

‘Ripper’ Chandran typically targeted unsecured houses near highways and railway lines. His method was chillingly consistent; victims were struck on the head with a hammer, followed by robbery. In several cases, he also sexually assaulted women after attacking them.

He earned the moniker ‘Ripper’ Chandran due to the resemblance of his methods to those attributed to the unidentified London killer, Jack the Ripper.

After a string of killings across Kasaragod and the Karnataka border regions, Chandran was captured by police from Chikmagalur in Karnataka on February 26, 1986, and brought to Kerala. The trial court sentenced him to death by hanging in 1987.

No foul play, says police 
According to the initial assessment of Manjeshwar police, there was no foul play in Balachandran’s death. Police have registered a case of unnatural death. The cause of death would be known only after autopsy, they said.