Nanthancode Mass Murderer Cadell Jeansen Sentenced To Life- Mystery Of A Son Who Practiced ‘Devil Worship’ Or ‘Satan Seva’ News24 –

On May 13, 2025, the Thiruvananthapuram Additional District and Sessions Court in Kerala sentenced 37-year-old Cadell Jeansen Raja to life imprisonment for the brutal murders of his parents, sister, and aunt in Nanthancode in 2017. The court found him guilty of murder, causing damage by fire or explosives, and trying to destroy evidence. In addition to the life sentence, the court imposed a fine of ₹15 lakh, which, if recovered, will be given as compensation to his uncle, Jose, who was the main witness in the case.

According to ANI, Special Public Prosecutor Dileep Sathyan said, “The accused has been found guilty in all four murders and has been punished with life imprisonment. He is also liable to pay a compensation of Rs 3 lakh for each of the murders. That would be Rs 12 lakh. He has been convicted for 7 years for destroying evidence by setting the house on fire.”

“He will have to first undergo punishment for seven years, and only after the completion of that sentence, the second sentence of five years will come into force, then subsequently, life imprisonment will come into play,” added the Special Public Prosecutor.

The incident took place in Thiruvananthapuram between April 5 and 8, 2017. The victims were Cadell’s father, mother, sister, and maternal aunt, who all lived in the same house.

Fateful Night Of April 2017

Kerala’s capital woke up on April 8, 2017, to the news that four members of a family were found dead. The bodies of three were charred and one was wrapped in a polythene sheet and a blanket. All four were brutally murdered by the eldest son of the family, Cadel Jeanson Raja. Dr. Jean Padma, her husband Raja Thankam, a retired professor, her daughter Caroline, and her relative Lalitha, residents of house number 117 in Bains Compound near Cliff House in Nanthankod, Thiruvananthapuram, were killed. The eldest son Cadel was absconding. The police recovered two machetes, a blood-stained axe, and a can of petrol from the scene. Along with it, a human figure made of cloth, iron, and plastic.

The Story

Raja and Jean Padma belonged to one of the wealthiest families in Thiruvananthapuram. Everyone in the family was highly educated. Dr. Jean, who retired from the Thiruvananthapuram General Hospital, had worked abroad for several years and also worked at a private hospital in Changanassery for a while. Raja was a teacher at Marthandam Christian College. Their youngest daughter, Caroline, returned home after completing her MBBS degree in China. After completing Plus Two, Cadell went abroad for higher studies. Initially, He enrolled in an MBBS program in Australia but did not complete it. Instead, joined a course in artificial intelligence, but he also dropped out of that halfway and returned home. Cadell spent most of his time on the computer in the upstairs room and had no friends. He also felt that her sister was receiving more attention at home than he was. This created friction between him and his father.

Cadell admitted that this enmity had driven him to the state of mind of killing his father. He had initially planned to kill his father, but later decided to kill the entire family. Cadell first killed his mother, Dr. Jean Padma. On the pretext of showing him a video game he had made, he took his mother upstairs to the bedroom, made her sit on a chair, and hacked her to death with an axe. After hiding the body in the bedroom, the accused came downstairs as if nothing had happened. Later that evening, he took his father Raja and his sister Carol upstairs and hacked them to death in the same way as he had killed his mother. He also hid these bodies. Aunty Lalitha and the maid who were at home asked Cadell about the others, but the answer was that they had all gone on a tour to Kanyakumari together.

The next night, Cadel murdered Lalitha. He lied that his mother was calling him on the phone and brought her to the upstairs bedroom. He used the same axe used for the other murders to slash the back of the head, then wrapped the body in a plastic bag and hid it. The next day, the maid asked Cadel about Lalitha. He repetaed the same story of tour.

Satan Seva Or Devil Worship

He also claimed that after practicing astral projection and Satanism for over ten years, he could communicate with spirits. Cadell’s bizarre claims and behavior frequently startled the prison staff. The trial for the Nanthankod massacre began last November, following a report from the medical board confirming that the accused had regained his mental health.