The De La Hey case

The murder at Newington School, and its aftermath

I had only a vague idea about this infamous case, and it was never my intention to delve into it. Nevertheless, I was pulled into it by chance as I was studying the collection of Kavalappara papers and saw a mention of a Parvathy Nethiyar withdrawing her ward from the Newington School in Madras in 1916. A bit intrigued, I googled the school, only to realize that this was the one that featured the De la Hey murder of 1919. Then, I picked up the biography of Lakshmi Sehgal, to complete my previous article on the Azad Hind bank and Yellappa. Again, chance intervened, and there on page six was the De la Hey case and its effect on her. Now interested, I collected and perused quite a bit of material on this case, which involved a cricketing principal, his wife, the minor wards of many the ‘Polygar’ Zamindars of Tiruneveli region. It involved many people familiar to readers of my articles, such as Lakshmi Sehgal, her father S Swaminadhan, Mrinalini Sarabhai, KP Keshava Menon etc. The story is quite engaging and believe it or not, is one of those cases which still remain cold.

If you recall, when the EIC and the British rose to ascendancy in India, they governed their possessions directly, and indirectly controlled some princely states and minor Zamindar’s (large estates). The EIC established what was known as a court of wards to protect minor heirs of these Zamin’s. The idea was that these estates would be managed by the British on behalf of the heir, who would also be educated and nurtured through the offices of the Court until their maturity. One could spend hours arguing if they did it honestly or not if they really babysat or looted. Anyway, the plan was to bring these kids up as proper young men and for this purpose, Rajkumar colleges were set up in North India. In Madras, the institution which catered to the minor’s education was the Newington College, on Mount Road, near today’s Gemini flyover. Colloquially it was known as the Minor Bungalow since these young wards were called Minors.

The Newington at Teynampet, struggled to find talented pupils and plodded along, though you will come across a few educated Zamindars among its alumni. A couple of European tutors came to administer this institution and the most important ones were Cameron Morrison (who also wrote a geography textbook), Clement De La Hey, and Mr Yates.  Sir John Sinclair (Lord Pentland) a patron of the institution, tried hard to structure and support it, even laying a foundation stone for a better outfit in 1919, but as we will soon see, the new Rajkumar style school never came up and the old one was abruptly closed. Morrison retired and left back home, after 25 years of yeoman work. The ruins of that Minor bungalow, are situated across the congress grounds on Anna Salai, in the DMS complex.

Clement de la Hey arrived in India 1901/02 as a Newington tutor and remained. There are numerous reports of him receiving dignitaries touring the school, as well as participating and captaining cricket matches and picking many a wicket as a bowler, visiting estates and other locales with his wards (e.g., Rangoon), participating in hunts etc. After a couple of trips to Canada and reaching an age of 40, he decided to get married (during a visit to Britain in July 1918) and subsequently, brought his 26-year-old wife Dorothy Mary Phillips, home to Madras. Soon the couple became parents to a little boy, Antony.

The Newington College was not only an educational institution but also the home to most of the minor male wards, as well as the De La Hey’s. At the time of the incident, there were in addition to the De La Hey family, their Ayah Harriet and attendant Ponnuswamy, nine young - minor Zamin’s as well some of their manservants. The Maravar wards were from the Tinnevelly palayam’s of Singampatti (aged 16), Kadambur (aged 18), Urkad (brothers aged 17 and 12), Thalivankottai (aged 13), as well as the Andhra Zamins of Berikai (aged 18), Chundi (aged 19), Pedamerangi (aged 14) and Saptur (aged 18). Two teachers Dharma Rao and Rangaswamy Iyer taught the children Telegu and sciences, during the day sessions. The kids went on study tours, practiced hunting and shooting, and play games like cricket, tennis etc. While the Tamil speaking Singampatti, Kadambur and Urkad youngsters formed one cluster, the Thalivankottai (though Tamil, he was kept away by the former group as he was an adopted son of the Zamin), Berikai and Chundi boys formed another. Of the lot, Kadambur was not so well off, while Singampetti, the richest, and connected to the Urkad family was also linked to the powerful Setupati’s of Ramnad.

Connecting Singampatti, Urkad, and the Kadampur boys was a potential alliance with an Urkad girl named Doraichi (sister of the Urkad brothers) who lived nearby with a British guardian. She was originally supposed to wed the Kadambur boy, but he had turned her down after hearing rumors from the Thalivankottai boy, of some ‘immoral conduct’. The Singampatti boy was now being groomed up to take her hand. Among the boys, the only one interested in studies was the Kadambur lad, but he had been having issues with Clement De La Hay who was not too keen to recommend him to a school in Britain or allow him to study Sanskrit. The Kadamabur lad’s name was Seeni Vellala Sivasubramania Pandia Thalaivar and the Singampetti lads was TN Sivasubramania Sankara Theerpathi.

Another issue at hand was the poor performance of the school, which had been failing to attract good quality students. Lord Pendleton as well as the Ramnad ruler were in the process of setting up a school in the lines of the Rajkumar school and as it appears the plan was not to continue with Clement De La Hay, who had been given notice. As the rumors put it, he called the Ramnad Raja a ‘bloody nigger prince’ which the strong-willed raja took an affront to. Meanwhile, Morrison had gone on furlough to Britain, leaving De La Hey as the officiating principal. Interestingly, Clement’s sister Dorothy took over as the principal of the first women’s college, the Queen Mary’s, not too far, off Mount Road.

The Murder

On the evening of 15^th October 1919, Clement returned late from the club and went up to his rooms. The other wards roomed on the second floor while Kadambur had his room on the ground floor (which was also storage for sporting goods and guns) and close to the tennis court. Around 12:30 a.m. a gunshot was heard by Dorothy, who lying in the next bed with her baby, woke up with a start. She then screamed for help after seeing Clement who was lying in a pool of blood in his bed, with the right side of his head blown off by a shotgun blast. The mosquito net had a large charred hole, to show that the gun was fired at close range. She also heard a thud soon after.

With that started the media furor over what came to be known as the Newington Scandal, the Kadambur Murder, or the De la Hey case. The case remained in the news for over a year, was heard, and decided in Bombay four months after the event. So, what happened, and who killed Clement?

The police concluded that the killing was the result of a late evening plan hatched by the Kadambur and the Singampetti wards. They were both taken into custody and the news media quickly indulged in sensationalist reporting. They published reports of the incident, one or two even going so far as to print that the Kadambur boy had admitted to shooting the principal (who had seemingly called him a black Tamil negro), hurting his sentiments and that he had written to his mother of his guilt and asking her to pay Mrs De La Hey a sum of Rs 10,000/- as compensation. Another report mentioned he turned De la Hey on his back to get a better shot. Singampatti’s father, well-connected in the Madras circles, swung into action, intent on freeing his son from custody. A renowned lawyer from Tellicherry, T. Richmond was retained as counsel for his son and in a few days, on the 24th, the Singampetti boy turned an approver implicating Kadambur as the murderer and himself as an unwilling bystander and witness. After the inquest, he was conditionally pardoned, leaving Kadambur in the dock.

It was then that S Swaminadhan, a leading criminal lawyer of Madras stepped in, to defend Kadambur, assisted by Ethiraj. Galvanized into action, they protested about the unfair and incorrect press reporting (KP Kesava Menon provided an affidavit attaching copies of all the nefarious reports) and the action of the Madras court, who after being pressured by the European residents, were trying to speed up closure with a guilty verdict on their client. They demanded that the case be heard elsewhere since the jury would be misled and influenced by the false reporting. Swaminadhan apparently rushed to Delhi to see the Governor-General and get a recommendation to transfer of the case. To cut the story short, the case was upon mutual agreement, shifted to Bombay, where surprisingly, the chief Justice Norman Macleod of the high court decided to preside himself, dressed in all his fine and pompous livery.

Meanwhile, Dorothy, Clement’s wife left India with the Madras court’s approval, stating that she feared for her life, nearing a nervous breakdown. This led to a number of rumors around her character, especially her relations with the young wards, while Clement was busy with his passion – cricket. The public felt that the British and the prosecuting counsel, sure that many skeletons would tumble out of the cupboard, had packed her off quickly to England.

The prosecution was confident that the case will be quickly done with, that Kadambur would be sentenced and jailed. They had not expected the wily Swaminadhan to get the case transferred to Bombay. To ensure that Kadambur was properly defended at Bombay, Swaminadhan & Ethiraj teamed up with RDN Wadia, a hot-shot Bombay lawyer. The prosecution team from Madras headed by Weldon arrived at Bombay with their entourage of clerks, translators, and assistants, as well as South Indian vegetarian cooks, with all the minor wards carefully prepared as witnesses, in tow.

Swaminadhan’s strategy was to attack the character of the state witnesses since the police had been insipid in their investigation, and little evidence had been unearthed. Neither had the police done a proper investigation nor had they built up a water-tight case. The motive, modus operandi, and timeline offered were at best, vague. The prosecution case relied fully on the approver’s statement and augmented it with corroborating statements of other minors. The defense decided to prove that both the approver as well as the supporting witnesses were lying and thoroughly untrustworthy. The cross-examination presented as a textbook example, by R K Soonavala, is a delight to read – Wadia, a skilled cross-examiner tore into the witnesses, i.e., the approver Singampatti and the minor wards and exposed the fact that they were being untruthful, and demolishing the prosecution’s case.

Mrs De La Hey’s testimony

Mrs De La Hey deposed on 20^th Oct – On the night of the 15th instant, I went to bed at 9-30 p.m. The beds were one behind the other. I was in the bed nearest the bedroom. My husband was a sound sleeper but he could be waked up easily. He was asleep before I was. A terrific noise awakened me. I called to my husband but there was no reply. A moment later I heard a noise of something weighty being thrown outside. I then turned round and saw the curtain on fire, smoldering. I got up at once from the left side of my cot. I tried to awaken my husband. The curtain lit up. I saw him and knew what happened. I yelled. Immediately minor Berikai came down.  After him came in Chundi. Then I went to the office room. Then Singampati, Kadambur and Saptur came down. I noticed that Kadambur had only got his veshti on. Singampati was covered to the throat. I can absolutely swear to his being there. I cannot swear that he was covered to the throat. That was my impression. I noticed nothing particular about him. Singampati did not look at all natural and appeared totally frightened. Kadambur had his hands behind his back and stared at me all the time.

Prosecution case

Talavankode testified that Kadambur and Singampatti had conspired the previous evening, with Kadambur determining to shoot De La Hey dead (as he had been ridiculed by De La Hey) as well as anybody who interfered during the attempt. Talavankottai told Chundu and Berikai about this (Urkad Jr was also present), but none of them wanted to inform De La Hey of the plan as they feared Kadamabur. At 930 Talavankottai saw Singampatti and Kadambur with cartridges in their possession as well as two guns to Singampatti’s bathroom. After the shot was fired, a bleary-eyed Berikai lying in his cot, saw Singampatti and Kadambur come running up.

According to the approver and the witnesses, as well as the conclusion at the inquest, the following timeline was established. Berikai, going down, saw Dorothy crying, who then asked him to call the police. They came and found the 12-bore shotgun (usually stored in Kadambur’s room) at the porch, in which one chamber had a fired cartridge, and the other had a loaded but fouled cartridge. Thalivankottai, Urkkad brothers, and Chundi confirmed that the plan was hatched between Singampatti and Kadambur in the billiards room, that evening. Berikai mentioned that Singampatti had thrown his gun down three floors. The next day the second gun, loaded and some loose cartridges were found in the yard, but the gun had no damages after being thrown down from a height of 40’ (this was certified as impossible by a gun expert during the cross, proving that the guns were planted outdoors to match storyline).

Singampatti’s statement was not recorded at all, and eventually, he turned approver stating that he was pulled along by Kadambur, that he was to stand at the door while Kadambur shot De La Hay and that if anybody intervened, they were all to be shot and killed. Accordingly, they pocketed some cartridges and proceeded to the De La Hey bedroom, where Kadambur shot the man dead and they then ran upstairs and got rid of the guns, Singampatti throwing his over the balcony. He said he did not go down until the police came (but Mrs De La Hay had mentioned he had come and Singampatti later added that she was mistaken). SIngampatti also mentioned that Kadambur had shot De La Hey the same night, since others heard of his plan and if the act was not quickly committed, De La Hey would know of the plan the next day. Kadambur had also informed Urkad Sr who was happy with the idea.

Defense strategy

Wadia’s cross-examination exposed many inconsistencies and untruths. It also brought out the letter exchange between Kadambur and Singampetti in Tamil, and his father’s visits, which allude to Kadambur being set up by Singampetti Sr as the fall guy while Singampetti became an approver. He also exposed the possibility of the Urkad senior as an involved party, since the Urkad was the nephew of the Ramnad raja, who may have had the racial grouse against De La Hey, and the fact that Kadambur had declined to marry his sister. It also came to light that Singampatti Sr had assured Kadambur, during his jail visits at Madras, that Kadambur would be released later.

Another major problem was the prosecution’s inability in establishing a clear motive. Was it that one of the young Zamin’s was upset at a racial slur, was it so that the Ramnad Raja, upset with the slur, was it that Kadambur was unhappy because De La Hey had written to his mother, was it something to do with the boys and Mrs Hey, or was it because Ramnad did not want De La Hey to become the head of the upcoming Rajkumar school? Or for that matter, was it because De La Hey was against the home rule, or was it an act in haste by one of the temperamental Marava lads, whoever it may be, due to their inherent violent and irritable disposition?? None of these seemed serious enough to warrant murder. Wadia also touched upon the relation with Dorothy de La Hey, and Urkad Sr stated that he had ‘visited’ her often. Her departure in a cloud of suspicion, and her decision not to return to clear her name or be a part of her husband’s murder trial, stained her character indelibly.

Wadia during the cross implied that the conspiracy and shooting were planned by Urkad and Singampatti, with Singampatti as the shooter, since he was a good shot. Chundi mentioned that he saw somebody going up the stairs with a gun, a tall person with curly hair, purporting it to be Kadambur, but as it turned out, the description matched that of Singampatti. It also became clear that Kadambur was nervous with guns, that the one-shot kill had to be done by somebody steady and skilled, perhaps Singampatti. With crafty questions, Wadia proved that Urkad jr, Thalivankottai, and Singampatti were being untruthful. He also proved that Berikai could not have seen what he did, as he was not wearing his glasses and since it was quite dark. He also established that most or all of the witnesses, had a grouse against Kadambur, because he had exposed their misdeeds in the past.

In the end, Norman Macleod summarized succinctly and the jury ruled wisely, acquitting Kadambur of all charges.

Aftermath

Swaminadhan had a rough time after his victorious return to Madras. Until then he and his family were leading a happy life in the upper circles, hobnobbing with the British. His daughters Lakshmi and Mrinalini (and sons Govind and Subram) were studying in British schools, but after the case, found themselves shunned by the British who wanted no part with them. We will now follow the story through Lakshmi Sehgal’s and Mrinalini Sarabhai’s words. For those who do not know, Lakshmi Swaminadhan moved to Singapore, got involved in the Indian Independence League and Indian National Army activities, teamed up with Subhash Chandra Bose during the 2nd World War, and fought the British, herself leading the Rani ‘all women’ regiment.

Lakshmi Sehgal - The first jolt, however, came when my father (who, in spite of being a brilliant student of civil law, had built up a roaring criminal practice) took up the sensational Kadambur murder case - My father knew that before the Madras High Court bench, consisting of two English and one Indian judge, the young man would get no justice. So, my father made a special appeal to the Viceroy and had the case transferred to the Bombay High Court, the only one in the country where the full bench had an Indian majority. Here my father was able to use all the arguments in his arsenal to get his client totally acquitted…. For my mother and us children, however, the repercussions were different. Many of my mother's English friends refused to greet her and in school, I was accused by the English teachers of being the daughter of a man who by unfair means had saved a native who had brutally murdered an innocent English gentleman. Here I should mention that after finishing my SSLC I joined Queen Mary's Women's College, the principal of which was Miss Delahey, the sister of the man who had been killed. She could easily have refused to admit me but did not do so, and in no way did she show any resentment towards me…The Kadambur case marked a turning point in our lives. Gone was our admiration for the honesty, justice and fair play of the British. From that day on we were determined be genuine Indians and not imitation Britishers. We were taken out of the convent and put into the government high school. We stopped wearing English frocks and got into our more comfortable and attractive pavadai and blouse. We also spoke more in Malayalam and Tamil rather than the now-disliked English. This period also coincided with the appearance of Mahatma Gandhi on the national scene. We stopped wearing all foreign clothes and using other articles made outside our country. At this stage, my mother became an active member of the All-India Women's Conference and the Women's India Association of Madras.

Subbarama Swaminadhan passed away in 1930, and after a failed marriage, Lakshmi moved to Singapore where she eventually joined the INA in the fight against the British (another story, for another day). Mrinalini became an acclaimed dancer and married Vikram Sarabhai, a pioneer in India’s space exploration. I had written about Vikram and TERLS, some years ago.

Mrinalini devoted two pages to the case in her biography, she writes (I am adding just a few extracts) – The murdered man was very unpopular with his wards because of the harsh manner in which he meted out severe punishments to young zamindars. His obvious contempt for all Indians led to his tragic death. The record showed that the foulest language was used against the wards by De La Hay and he had had the audacity to call a leading zamindar, held in high esteem by the government, ‘that bloody nigger prince’…... A High Court judge in a casual conversation with the member about the case came to know that no arrangements had been made by the Court of Wards for the defense of other accused, Kadambur, and that the Court had no intention of having him defended. He suggested that they engage  Swaminadhan, the best lawyer in Chennai. My father took up the case and when he interviewed Kadambur, the boy swore innocence and showed great courage, a trait my father admired. Soon after, my father received a summons from the ‘higher ups’, to try and persuade him not to proceed with the case.

My father refused the summons but invited them to visit him at his office if they needed any counsel, while objecting strongly to his ward Kadambur being treated as a common criminal… Singampatti, who had become an approver, repeated parrot-like a cooked-up story and the preliminary enquiry was concluded with undue haste. After the court closed, my father visited Kadambur in jail and found he had been sent a letter in Tamil from his friend Singampatti begging forgiveness for his false statement in court, which he said he had been pressurized into writing by his father. My father immediately took the letter to the registrar of the High Court. However, as he felt that his client would not have a fair trial in Chennai, he asked for the case to be transferred to Mumbai though the Court of Wards threatened him against this decision. Things had come to a serious pass and even my father’s life was in danger……My father’s wise decision to transfer the case to Mumbai saved Kadambur.

A little bit about the Singampatti region – It is home to the fabulous Manjolai hill estates and the family has been closely linked to the Travancore royals over the years (Many will also recall the Ilayaraja song – Majolai kili thano). Situated at an altitude of 5000’ above sea level, the Manjolai hills still remain an unexplored region and are known as the poor man’s Ooty. The Singampatti zamindars leased those hills later to the Bombay Burmah Trading Corp, who set up a tea plantation. It is said that the lease was concluded to pay for the legal costs of Singampatti in the De La Hey case.

So, what do you think happened after the 1920 acquittal of Singampatti and Kadambur? Well, the estate of Mrs De La Hey sued the two boys in Nov 1920 for a Rs 10 lakhs compensation. The boys rejected the summons as they were still minor. Dorothy’s team tried again and it can be seen that Stanley Wadsworth, her barrister, managed to secure a Rs 60,000/- compensation from Singampatti, to settle the case, in 1922. Though this may imply that the Singampatti was culpable, the motive has not yet been ascertained, nor was the case investigated further or closed.

Dorothy de la Hey married again and emigrated to South Africa with her son Anthony. The case and public interest in it died over time, though the old-timers of Madras mention it often. It had an interesting outcome though, for it was after Swaminadhan’s efforts in this case, that criminal cases in India were tried by a majority of Indian judges. Swaminadhan’s son Govind, following his footsteps, became a brilliant lawyer, and we read of his involvement in the Alavander Case. The Lakshmikanthan case, another interesting story where Govind was an advocate, will be a future project.

References
News reports on the De La Hey case – Pioneer Mail, The Englishman, Straits times, Madras Weekly mail, Andhra Patrika etc
Children and Childhood in the Madras Presidency, 1919-1943 – Dr Catriona Ellis
Advocacy: Its Principles and Practice - Rustom Kavasha Soonavala
College of Vice – R P Aiyar (In the Crimelight)
Home office files – Transfer of case to Bombay, Proceedings Dec 1919, #118-124
Madras Musings – Vol X, 22 & 23 Gunshot at midnight, who killed De La Hey? – Randor Guy
Famous judges, lawyers, and cases of Bombay – PB Vachha
Revolutionary life – Lakshmi Sehgal
The voice of the heart - Mrinalini Sarabhai

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The Alavandar case

A case that shook Madras in 1953, all for a pen……

The Telugu Komati Chetties had been trading in Madras for a long time and were pretty good at it, holding privileged positions with the British in the pre independence days, well located in the (China town) Parry’s corner and Broadway environs of old Madras. The kothwal market or the Kothachawady was something which owes its origin to them, so also many of the old businesses and shops, which old timers frequented. But this is about an unsavory character of their lot, one Alavandar who traded in pens, plastic goods and sarees and his timely demise, if I may term it so. This Alavander, a namesake of the great Vaishnavite philosopher, was no good man, but a philanderer, often preying on young women. As it transpired, in the autumn months of 1951, he chanced upon a young girl of 22, named Devaki Menon, who visited the shop he worked in (it still exists) called Gem and Co to buy a fountain pen. Such pens were much treasured in those days and had great value. In this peculiar case, that pen sale was to start an amorous affair of sorts and eventually result in the murder of this Alavandar.

The story came out in bits and pieces, during the early months of 1953 when the case came up for trail in the hallowed Madras High court. Newspapers feasted on the lurid, morbid and sleazy details. It was certainly tricky, for the jurors, the judge, the police, the lawyers and the others who assisted with the investigation. You must now remember that the scientific facilities we have today were not available to the rudimentary medical team in Madras during that period. X-rays, fingerprints, autopsies and so on were not so advanced and conclusions not too easy to reach. Much of the information on the happenings came out from the confessions (sometimes coerced) provided by the accused and the co accused and the juries made their decisions based on those, after the presiding judge had made his summary and opinion of the case.

The accused was Prabhakara P Menon, husband of the co accused Devaki Menon and they lived in Royapuram. Prior to their marriage in June 1952, Devaki was a social worker imparting Hindi tuitions and lived with her parents in Adam Sahib St. Prabhakara Menon was an insurance clerk at the Premier insurance Co and had since then taken up a position as the editor for the newspaper Freedom. After marriage they settled down in a house rented from one Yusuf Mohammed, at 62 Cemetery Rd Royapuram. The hornets’ nest was stirred (or so it seems) when Menon wanted an advertisement in his paper and his wife offered to help by getting an advertisement from Gem and Co. Menon accompanied Devaki and met Alavandar who seemed overtly friendly with his wife thereby raising suspicions in Menon’s mind about his wife’s fidelity. In fact if he had asked around, Menon could have been more definite in his conclusions, for Alavandar did have many such conquests to boot.

Alavandar, then 42 years old, was not debonair, but dressed nattily, used to work in the Military department at Avadi and had taken up to the businesses mentioned above, after premature retirement. I would assume that he saw greater opportunities in business and soon found out that he could easily bed many a woman he desired by offering pens, sarees and plastic vessels and accepting their bodies in lieu or as part payment for the pens or vessels sold.

On 29^th August 1952, Inspector Ramantha Iyer was faced by a worried looking woman claiming to be the wife of the said Alavandar, complaining that her husband had not come home. The press took up the issue announcing the case of a missing businessman, the following day. Iyer checked up with Kannan Chetty the owner of Gem and Co and talked to Venkatarangan an aspiring politician, who had been around as well as other employees who all mentioned that Alavandar was last seen talking to Devaki Menon on the 28^th August, the previous day, before noon.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the 29^th, at about noon time, a ticket examiner boarded the 3^rd class compartment of the Indo-Ceylon boat mail at Manamadurai, a station some 60 miles from Madurai, only to be accosted by irate passengers who complained of a stink from a section of the compartment. Hastening to the location, he found a green steel trunk under the seat as the source of the offending smell, with nasty blood pools around it. The station police and station master were summoned and the box opened. The contents were nothing short of macabre, it comprised a human body sans its head, severed arms and legs, all swiftly rotting in the hot and humid weather. The police were perplexed, whose corpse could this be? It decidedly originated from Egmore station in Madras, with the train. 

A quick postmortem revealed injuries to the left side of the chest, a circumcised penis, a black waist thread, and green socks on the feet. The police surgeon concluded after an X-ray that it belonged to a Muslim male aged 24. As we can see, it was a deduction far from reality. The body was moved to the local burial ground and a watch kept, just in case, for this bit of horrid news also hit the papers.

Ramanatha Iyer reading the news the next day somehow felt that the body in the trunk was related to the missing Alavandar. He had in the meantime tracked down the residence of Devaki Menon in Royapuram only to be told that the house had been vacated and the occupants had left town. He entered to see an empty house, but with a number of blood stains on the walls and the kitchen. Iyer was quick to round up and question a number of people in the neighborhood and slowly the scene was recreated. A rickshaw puller Arumugam informed that the occupant of the home, PP Menon had hired his rickshaw, was seen carrying a pumpkin like object, which he had tossed into the Bowekuppam at the Royapuram beach.

Iyer deducted that this tossed object must be the missing head of the headless corpse, but then again, the head was still missing. Proverbially, Jayarama Iyer a constable, walking along the beach chanced upon this very head, as a wave brought it in at 4PM on Aug 31^st. Ramanatha Iyer quickly had the torso brought in to Madras and the combination was handed over for further analysis to a medical team headed by Dr KC Jacob and Dr CP Gopalakrishnan. They were able to establish that the head belonged to the body after seeing that the cervical vertebrae matched at the cut and the finger prints from the severed hands matched those of Alavandar (which were available since he was in military service). Also the height of the body after combining the torso with the head came up to 5’5” whereas the service record mentioned Alvander’s height at 5’4.5”. Alavandar’s wife was called for identification and she identified him based on his two holed right earlobe, his black overriding upper canine tooth, his waist thread, circumcised penis and the green socks. It also transpired during the case that Alavandar had gotten circumcised and consumed opium, both attributed to greater sexual prowess by the press. The stomach analysis revealed opium which Alavandar was known to take.

With this the case took a new turn, to the investigation of the homicide of Alavander and the tracking down of the missing assailants, presumed to be the Prabhakaran and Devaki. The police soon traced the servant boy who worked for the Menon’s, a Coimbatore lad of 13 named KT Narayanan, who had run away from home some months ago and come to Madras. After questioning him (and perhaps Devaki’s father Raman Menon), they learnt that the couple had left for Bombay via Mysore. Ramanatha Iyer drove to Bangalore and flew to Bombay and located Prabhakara Menon at one Subedar Major Nair’s house, with Bombay police’s help. Devaki Menon had in the meanwhile suffered an abortion and was hospitalized. Menon was arrested on 13^th Sept and Devaki later after she was discharged from the hospital, on the 22^nd. Both were brought back to Madras.

I cannot but feel astonished at the efficiency with which all this took place, can you imagine, in 1952, when police departments had small budgets, less staff and depended on the ingenuity of its officers. Just imagine - they could resort to air travel, they worked well with Bombay police and even moved suspects by air!!

The police continued with its investigation, and identified some 50 persons who could provide circumstantial evidence about the movements of Alavander and the Menon’s. The police uncovered a watch and a pen from Menon which they believed were Alavandar’s. They also found a knife in the belongings of Devaki and traced out her blood stained sari and the Malabar knife used to sever the head of the deceased. Menon later showed the police a location near the beach he had hidden clothes and underwear belonging to Alavander. But the police had no eyewitness or clinching evidence linking the Menon’s directly to the crime except for a bloodstained palm print purporting to be Menon’s at 62 Cemetery rd. The police tried hard to get Devaki to become an approver in return for a full pardon if she could affirm that Prabhakaran had committed a premeditated murder, but she would not budge and continued to support her husband who she said acted to save her honor. All the court had was their statements, some obtained under police pressure, but which were used in the court during a trial by jury and headed by a senior judge.

What is even more interesting is the group of people who came together in this pursuit for justice. The presiding judge was A S Panchapakesa Ayyar, from Palghat, a stentorian individual, while the public prosecutor was Govind Swaminathan (brother of Lakshmi Sehgal) from Palghat (later Calicut). The lawyers for the defense were BT Soundararajan and S Krishamurthy. The case was soon readied and the much talked about trial was held at the great hall in the Madras high court, just a few months later, in March 1953. A number of people were questioned, a number of items were introduced as evidence and a number of findings were revealed to the public, and events were replayed in the interest of judicial correctness and for the jury to take a note of. The arguments hovered around whether the case was justifiable or culpable homicide, or a case or premeditated murder. It was very important to have this right for each of them carried a very different sentence, in severity.

Ayilam Subramania Panchapakesan Iyer had come a long way from that small village in Palghat and had risen up the ranks to be the first ICS officer from Madras.  After education at Oxford, he became an eminent and outspoken judge. He was author of so many interesting books such as The Layman's Bhagavad Gita, Three men of destiny, and his novel Baladitya is possibly the first historical romance based on Indian History. He was never popular with the British, whom he derided often, and they denied him promotions, keeping him as a district judge for long years. Finally, after Independence he got his much deserved elevation as the first permanent Indian Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.

Govind Swaminathan on the other hand, was born into an influential family, son of Dr S Swaminathan, a leading barrister of Madras who specialized in Criminal Law. Govind’s mother Ammu was a leading social activist later becoming a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and an MP. Govind had two sisters one of whom was the eminent dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai and the other the well-known INA Capt Lakshmi Sehgal.

Not much is known about the defense counsel, perhaps they were court appointed.

So let us now go to the High court at the Parry’s corner, a few hundred feet away from the pen shop where Alavandar had worked, and see what happened, as we reconstruct the events of 28^th August 1952. The judge ASP Ayyar is smartly clad in a black suit and covered with his judicial crimson robes, the sheriff sits on his right wearing a white-laced black gown holding a spear in his hand and to his left sits the Commissioner of Police. The Sergeant would bellow, just as the court was to begin, mightily, “Oye! Oye! Oye!” With that the court belonged to Ayyar, and perfect stillness would descend in the court. The hallowed halls built of teak from Indonesia and furniture of rosewood from Waynad were filled with people looking on….

The hearing revealed the following

The 22 year old Devaki daughter of Raman Menon lived with her parents at Adam Saheb st, and first met Alavandar in August 1951 when she went to Gem & Co to buy a pen. They met frequently and it appears that she was seduced by Alavander a month later at a Broadway hotel, perhaps The Crown. In May 1952, she met Prabhakara Menon, then working as a clerk at the Premier insurance company. He had a reasonably good job and a company car, but soon changed jobs and became an editor at a newspaper named Freedom. They got married in June 1952, a month later.

A few days later, needing an advertisement, Menon meets Alavandar who compliments him on his marriage, but raises the suspicions of Menon who sees too much familiarity in Alavandar’s references to his wife Devaki. Soon they move into new lodgings at 62 Cemetery road and employ Narayanan mainly for cooking and carrying water upstairs. It is perceived that Alavandar has been pursuing Devaki even though she was married. He apparently demands compensation for the advertisement and takes Devaki to the Mercantile hotel for sex, but she manages to escape, and Alavander is incensed. On that particular day, Menon’s suspicions increase as Devaki reaches home late and he accosts his wife and asks her if she is carrying on an affair. She initially denies it, but admits to the previous affair with Alavandar during a movie they go to see at the Minerva Talkies, on 27^th August. The furious Menon storms out of the theater and later at night asks his wife to bring Alavandar home so that he could finish him off (according to the statement of Narayanan who overheard the outburst in Malayalam – seems the boy woke up and went to pee).

A day later the Menon’s world is turned upside down by the events which occur in rapid succession, and in a surprisingly orderly and planned fashion, all brought to light by a quirk of fate, when the wave carried Alavandar’s lifeless head back to shore, depositing it at the feet of Constable Jayraman Iyer.

According to the public prosecutor - Menon plans the act of finishing off Alavandar. He asks Devaki to bring him home on 28^th August. He absconds office that day and orders a large knife from Khader Moideen (or another man) which is picked up around 9AM. He asks Narayanan to go elsewhere that day and then leaves home at 10AM, well dressed, he is said to have walked up to the nearby shop and purchased two bottles of Vimto sodas (why Vimto – because it was crimson red?).

At 400 PM, he hires a rickshaw and proceeds to throw toss a pumpkin shaped object into the beach dump. He also finds time to hide some clothes under a rock near the beach (though not noticed doing so by the rickshaw driver Arumugam).

At about 530 PM, Menon is seen again pedaling home on a cycle carrying a large green trunk. Narayanan who has returned by then notices that Devaki is washing some clothes downstairs, she declines offers for help. He is later summoned to help wash the floor upstairs and smells cut flesh. Later Menon proceeds to Egmore station in a rickshaw of one Kathavarayan, with the green trunk. At the station he declines porter help in carrying the box initially, but later does, with whom he deposits the object under a seat of the Ceylon boat mail ETD 800PM, stating that this was for a friend leaving by the train. The porter sees blood and Menon explains that he has cut his hand which indeed is the case, for his thumb and palm are injured. The porter is paid Rs 5/- and asked to keep mum. Menon comes back, shaves off his moustache and returns the Malabar knife to Moideen (actually there is an anomaly here for Menon in his confession explained that he got it from somebody else).

Next day as the trunk is opened up in Manamadurai and as Ramanathan Iyer is dealing with Alavandar’s wife’s complaint, the Menon’s busy themselves in vacating their 62 Cemetery Rd house, transferring the goods to Raman Menon’s (Devaki’s father) house. Later that evening they take the train to Mysore (where Menon tries to settle his company dues from his boss) and then Bombay, leaving the boy Narayanan behind.

The police follow the culprits to Bombay where Menon has started to work for BICC and is living with a relative Subedar Major Nair. Devaki seems to be pregnant and had taken ill. Menon surrenders to the Bombay police when accosted and inspectors Clark and Jaffer book a case of homicide on him. He is then handed over to Ramanathan Iyer who takes him back to Madras and gets him to go over the events, while at the same time unearthing the blood stained clothes of Alavandar.

Later the police rummage through Devaki’s possessions, find the watch and pen belonging to Alavander as well as a knife. She is also brought back to Madras by air after recovery, but is tight lipped.

Some more details come to light, that Devaki had visited Gem and Co at 11AM, had a chat with Alavandar and left around noon. Alavandar followed her in a motor rickshaw according to politician Venkatarangan, informing his staff that he will be back in an hour. It is said that Devaki reached home, and her husband opened the door. Fifteen minutes later Alavadar tapped on the door, which was opened by Devaki. Alavandar went in, the door was closed.

What happened inside 62 Cemetery road at 1230 PM on 28^th Aug 1952 after which Menon left for Egmore with the green trunk leaking blood? A witness Anthony testified that he presumed Menon was home since he purchased the Vimto drinks from one Chotta Saheb’s shop and that he had seen Alavandar entering Devaki’s home after alighting from an auto rickshaw after noon.

According to the first theory based on the prosecutions deductions, Devaki invited Alavandar home where Menon was lying in wait in the bedroom. Alavandar arrived and proceeded to disrobe Devaki in the hall when Menon came roaring in. A fight ensued and in the process Alavandar got stabbed (Devaki did not witness the fight and was ordered out of the room by the enraged husband) in his lung and liver. During the fight, Alavandar bit Menon’s hand. The Menon’s then decided to dispose of the body and vamoose. So they hacked the body, dismembered the head and arms, as well as a leg. Menon went out, disposed off the head at the beach, then purchased the trunk and left it in the Ceylon bound train. They then washed the floor and kitchen with Lux soap!! The event was premeditated and well planned and death occurred from a frontal stab and not ‘by chance’ during a tussle.

According to Devaki’s and Menon’s statement, Alavandar followed Devaki home and tried to molest her and it was during that event that Menon arrived and knocked on the door. Alavandar opened the door and Menon and Alavandar had a fight which resulted in the events as above. The event was an occurrence by chance precipitated by Alavandar’s molestation attempt. The stabbing was by Alavandar’s own hand as they went down to the floor during the fight.

At 4PM Menon left in Arumugam’s rickshaw to dispose Alavandar’s head in the corporation dump near the Royapuram beach. The trunk was later deposited in the Indo Ceylon mail by Menon. Menon next went to Mysore, to settle their salary dues, then both fled to Bombay and stayed with Sub Maj Nair, a relative of Menon, after which Prabhakaran met up with KS Alva (for a job perhaps) and found employment with BICC British insulated cables.

The defense tried to attack Alavandar’s character, Antony’s testimony and Narayanan’s statements, but do not seem to have dented them or created any doubts in the mind of the jury. The judge, a stern moralist felt that Alavandar got what he deserved and made it clear in his summary. The jury settled on culpable homicide, not going for premeditated, and Ayyar sentenced Menon and Devaki to seven and three years of imprisonment respectively under IPC sections 201 and 304. The public it is said, felt that ASP Ayyar had sided with the couple because they were from Malabar, but failed to notice that the public prosecutor was also from Malabar.

It is believed that the couple went back to Kerala after release and set up a small business. Nothing more is known about them and the memories of the case faded. Randor guy (Madabhushi Rangadorai) wrote about the case, talked often about it and made a television serial based on this story. The medical analysis and its use in conviction ushered a new era of police forensics, while the jury system continued for another 6 years until it was disbanded after the notorious Ahuja – Nanavati case, which I had written about earlier.

In summary, it was diabolic and well timed in execution, for a plan made just the day before. Menon had approximately three hours between 1230 and 330PM to kill and dismember Alavandar, who had unwittingly walked into the trap (or as the court decided, into a crime of passion). The killing was done with a smaller knife puncturing the lung and liver though I believe Alavandar was not yet dead but was stabbed, in mortal danger and bleeding profusely. He was dead only after his head was loped off. To slice off one’s head with a cleaver is not easy, that too for a novice like Menon, but the cut was neat which is surprising (or else the forensic doctor would not have been able to match the cervical vertebrae). Then again it is very difficult to cut through sinew, bone and muscle if you were not a butcher. To remove two hands and a leg off a writhing body lying on a slippery blood pooled floor of the kitchen, while bending down, is very difficult, without expert help. It was not done on a raised dining table or there would have been knife and blood marks on it. Did somebody help?

The confessions make it clear that Devaki was not at the scene of the dismembering. It is 4 PM now. After this Menon had to go and get rid of the head and clothes (Royapuram and back 1 hr), get a trunk on his cycle (15-30 min), go to the Egmore station, some 6 miles away by rickshaw (45 min) and be there to load the truck into the for the Indo Ceylon mail by 630 PM. The trunk would have leaked blood from that point until departure at 8PM and nobody noticed or complained? Another question, why did Menon choose that train and that too Egmore when it was so far away, why not Central station which is nearer (perhaps to throw the police off the scent?) to Royapuram? Nevertheless, it was all carried out in clockwork precision by a cool headed thinker, if you ask me, which therefore leaves even more mystery behind.

I don’t know what make of pen entrapped Devaki, was it a hero or a pilot or a waterman? I don’t know if there were more nefarious activities goings on for it has been muttered that Alavandar was seen more often at 62 Cemetery lane, before the murder, even after Devaki got married. Questions have also been asked as to why all the people of the locality took little note of the happenings or failed to talk the police about it, but well, that’s how it was.

Royapuram continues to be a crowded place, though I am not sure 62 Cemetery road exists. The high court is still there but the glorious carved ceiling has been covered up with a false ceiling to support air conditioning. People still do things they should not, keeping the court and the people who work there, busy. Cases come and go, people are sentenced and acquitted, and Judges as well as advocates continue their arguments and sentencing. Common people no longer occupy the Jurors seats, for the system has been disbanded.

Ironically this would have been an ideal case for the Los Angeles chief medical examiner and coroner Lakshmanan Satyavagishwaran, who worked with complex cases like that of OJ Simpson’s. Lakshmanan, if you did not know, is judge ASP Ayyar’s grandson.

References

Famous murder trials – S Rajagopalan

Defense contentions in Alavandar Case – Indian express March 12^th 1953

Randor guy (Alavandar Murder case) and TV Raj articles (Murder most foul) on the Alavandar Case

S Muthiah – Madras musings - Bodies in the trunk

Photos Courtesy Hindu, Indian express, Randor Guy, ASP Ayyar, Wikimedia

By Yoga Balaji - From a Digital Camera (Nikon), CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11200059

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