The police broke down the door, found Saju Chelavalel with a knife, tasered him and arrested him. (representative)
London:
A 52-year-old man, who pleaded guilty to the triple murder of his Kerala nurse wife and their two children, has been sentenced by a British court to life imprisonment with a minimum of 40 years behind bars.
Saju Chelavalel, also from Kerala, appeared before East England’s Northampton Crown Court on Monday after previously admitting to killing his wife Anju Asok, 35, and children Jeeva Saju, 6, and Janvi Saju, 4.
Judge Edward Pepperall referred to an audio recording made at the time of Anju’s death that was played in court during the hearing.
“As you squeezed the life out of your wife, you can hear your children crying in the background for their mom. It is clear that they heard what was going on and knew that she was hurt by you,” the judge noted in his criminal comments.
The court heard that emergency services were called to the home of the Indian family in Kettering, Northampton on December 15, 2022 to report that a woman and two children had been seriously injured.
Northamptonshire Police said their officers broke down the door to enter and found Saju Chelavalel with a knife. Despite repeated calls to put down the knife, he continued to wield it shouting, “You shoot me,” resulting in a taser and arrest.
Anju was pronounced dead at the scene and a short time later both children were also pronounced dead. Forensic post-mortem examination, which took place at Leicester Royal Infirmary after their deaths, concluded that all three died of asphyxiation.
“The lives of Anju’s parents and siblings in India will never be the same without her. She came to this country with many hopes and dreams. She did not expect the tragic death of her husband, whom she trusted,” says one family. A spokesperson told the court this week.
“Her only surviving sister and the aunt of Jeeva and Janvi is so traumatized that she has not recovered from the mental shock and deep scars of this incident. Indeed she was hospitalized in India for a week due to the shock of what happened a spokesman said, adding that Chelavalel had tried to contact Anju’s family from prison, which also deeply upset them.
Sarah Powell, the head teacher at Kettering Park Infant Academy where Jeeva and Janvi attended, told the court that the two children were valued members of the school community.
“We have two colorful benches on our playground to commemorate them both. Having the two police officers and their immediate family present at this memorial meant a lot to our entire school community. The school has also produced an album of memories of the children from their time at school,” she shared.
Detective Simon Barnes, the Northamptonshire Police Senior Investigating Officer in the case, described Anju as a mother like many around the world.
“She wanted to give her children – Jeeva and Janvi – the best life possible. She has been described by her colleagues and friends as very hardworking, conscientious, kind, kind and she will be sorely missed. She was someone who never complained and barely missed a service,” he said.
“As an adult, detective and father, I can’t understand how Saju Chelavalel could have done this and I don’t think I ever will. He never fully explained what he did or why and will now spend the rest of his life with not much else to think about but that. There is no time behind bars that will ever be enough for what he did. His primary role as a husband and father was to protect his family from danger. They had at their safest should be, at home, with him, but he destroyed that,” he added.
The officer also offered his condolences to Anju’s “devastated family in India”, who he says are still struggling to come to terms with what happened.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
