Couple, YouTuber daughter held in Kerala child abduction case; cops say financial crunch led to crime

A couple and their daughter, who is a popular YouTuber, were arrested by the police in connection with the recent abduction of a 6-year old child from Kollam in Kerala on Saturday.

Apart from scientific evidence, accurate sketches prepared by an artist couple of the accused duo based on details given by the child also helped the police zero-in on the culprits.

Abigail Sara Reji, hailing from Oyoor near Pooyappally on the suburbs of Kollam, was abducted around 4.30 pm on Monday and the kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 10 lakh over the phone. But the child was found abandoned at Asramam in Kollam the next day after the police launched an intense search for the kidnappers.

Huge financial obligation was said to have prompted the family to commit the crime. Though there were reports that personal rivalry of the accused with the child's father was the provocation, police later denied it.

K R Padmakumar (52) of Chathannoor, his wife Anitha, (48) and their daughter Anupama, aged 21, were held. Anupama was running a YouTube channel by the name 'Anupama Pathman' that has 5.1 lakh subscribers and she used to get considerable revenue.

Additional director general of police (law and order) M R Ajithkumar told reporters that the abduction was carried out after almost a year-long planning.

Padmakumar, who is an engineering graduate and has various businesses, was reportedly in debt of Rs 5 crore. He required Rs 10 lakh urgently to avoid some bank attachment proceedings. Hence they abducted the child for ransom.  Anitha was suspected to have masterminded it. The couple executed it and the daughter was also a part of the plan, police said.

Artist R B Shajith and his wife Smitha M Babu, who prepared the sketch of the accused, said that the inputs given by the 6-year-old was very helpful to sketch the accused duo with little fault.

Earlier in many cases, including the train arson incident of Kozhikode, the sketch released by the police had no similarity with the accused.