Mangaluru: “This is a case of sibling jealousy. The accused felt that his parents loved only his sister and were neglecting him,” said Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Dr Harsha on Monday, October 28.
He was addressing a press conference held at his office, to confirm the outcome of the Fiona Swedal Cutinho murder case.
“We intensified our investigations based on the information collected by the police as Samson (the brother) was giving us misleading statements. During the investigation, we discovered that it was Samson who had killed his sister but striking her with a hammer,” he said.
It can be recalled that 16-year old Fiona Swedal had gone missing from her home in Konaje, about 18 days before her body was found in a nearby forest on Saturday, October 26. Investigations had revealed that she was killed by her older brother Samson, who then disposed of the body.
Samson (20) had reportedly confessed to the crime and said that he hit his sister on the head repeatedly with a hammer. He revealed that he killed her because he felt that she was receiving all the attention of their parents.
Swedal went missing on October 8 and her father Francis Cutinho had lodged a missing case the following day. The police too could not get a breakthrough in the case for several days, but soon they found that Swedal’s last mobile location was her own locality-Mudipu. The police started questioning the family members and Samson could not hold on to the secret for long. The police launched a search operation to retrieve her body and her skeletal remains were found in the forest near the house.
“Fiona’s father had resigned from his job due to health issues and her mother works in an IT company. Samson was studying in an engineering college but dropped out because of his drug addiction,” the compol said.
The police learnt that Samson killed his sister when no one was at home. Their father had gone out at 11 AM and returned at 1.30 PM. Police speculate that the murder occurred in this time frame.
“Samson struck Fiona very hard on the head. She died from severe bleeding,” he said.
After the murder, Samson dragged his sister’s body about 100 meters behind their house and dumped her body in a drain covered by bushes. “The people were not able to see her body because of the heavy rains. As soon as Samson confessed, ACP North Kodandaram and the team rushed to the spot and recovered the mortal remains,” he added.
Further, he said, “We have taken Samson into custody based on the information available with us. He admitted to killing his sister in an inhumane way. We have submitted all our findings to the forensic team and are now awaiting their report. We have recovered the skeletal remains of the deceased. The team led by ACP Kodandaram has worked tirelessly to solve the case.”
Speaking about the drug angle, the compol said that many places have been raided and many suppliers sent to jail. He then requested parents to cooperate with the police if their children are addicted to drugs.
