A heart-breaking story out of Santa Clara, in Northern California. Devan Kalathat took his own life– but only after shooting his wife, his two children, and three other relatives (including an 11-month old baby girl) who had just arrived from India.
A father is suspected of killing his two children and three other relatives before taking his own life in an upscale neighborhood of Silicon Valley where the family had recently moved.
Authorities were still searching Tuesday for a motive in Sunday night’s slayings, though they have said financial issues did not appear to be a factor. [Yahoo]
Everyone died except Kalathat’s wife, who remained in critical condition Tuesday with multiple gunshot wounds in her upper body. She managed to stumble outside and collapse on a concrete pathway, where she was found in a pool of blood by neighbors. Along with the bodies of five others, including his two children and niece, police found Kalathat inside with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The two handguns were laying nearby. [SJMercuryNews]
Various reports I’ve read indicate that Kalathat had just moved his family in to the home (which complicates investigating the crime, since their neighbors didn’t know them well); his brother-in-law, Ashok Appu Poothemkandi, who had worked for Hewlett-Packard in Bangalore, had just moved to America with his wife and infant daughter to start a two-year assignment here.
Relatives from India say Kalathat and his wife’s brother quarreled. But so much is still unknown.
“I can’t imagine him losing his cool like that,” said a neighbor who lived next door to the couple in Sunnyvale from 2000 to 2003. “I would have never imagined him having guns. They don’t seem like the kind of people.”
During a press conference Tuesday afternoon in which they identified the dead for the first time, police would only say that they were investigating “family dynamics” as the motive for the killings — one of the deadliest in Santa Clara history. The couple apparently didn’t have financial problems. His engineering job at Yahoo appeared secure… [SJMercuryNews]
Some of you may recall a similar story from last year, in which financial problems were the motive for the murder of an entire family. Abhi blogged about it, here. Perhaps because of this, or due to the current economic climate, almost every news report I’ve read has emphasized that money doesn’t seem to be a factor in this sad case.
The murderer’s father-in-law sheds light on some of those “family dynamics” the police are investigating:
In a story posted Tuesday, the Times of India had an interview with Kalathat’s father-in-law, Appu Master, an 80-year-old retired school teacher, in Tamil Nadu. Master told the news organization that the shooter had a “quarrel” with Master’s son, Poothemkandi. [SJMercuryNews]
Poothemkandi was at the home for a housewarming party, but he may have been staying with his sister and brother-in-law, as well:
The man who gunned down his family in an apparent murder-suicide was an engineer at Yahoo Inc. who was helping his brother-in-law settle into Silicon Valley after arriving from southern India, police said Tuesday…
That was around the same time that Kalathat legally bought his second .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun, according to police. He used that weapon, as well as a handgun purchased in February, in the shooting spree, they said. [sfgate]
People who know Kalathat seem shocked at the crime:
Abhilash Appu, 32, another brother-in-law of Kalathat, told the San Jose Mercury News that he had no idea why the bright, quiet man would turn on his family. “That we don’t know,” Appu said, speaking by phone from a village in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Raji Rajan, a Sunnyvale lawyer who worked with Kalathat and his family to legally change their names in 2002, said she had vague recollections of him as “a very civilized, cultured and gentle guy.” [sfgate]
Please be respectful with your comments. While we don’t know much regarding this calamity at this point, we do know (based on past experience) that relatives and friends of the deceased often find their way here; they don’t need additional pain from insensitivity, assumptions, conjecture.
My prayers are with the families affected by this senseless act of violence. A young couple is dead, three of Appu Master’s grandchildren are gone and a woman is fighting for her life. What a tragedy.
This is such a tragic story. Especially the kids who lost their lives so soon.
Linkedin profile of this guy list 10 different certificates in various computer technologies, what use of all those who kill innocents http://www.linkedin.com/in/devankalathat
Devan Kalathat’s Summary 15+ years of experience in IT, 10+ years of which is in Business Intelligence, Data Warehousing, OLAP and Web Analytics.
Microstrategy Certified Engineering Principal (MCEP) Microstrategy Certified Engineer (MCE) Certified Engine Specialist (CES) Certified Narrowcast Developer (NCD) Certified Project Designer (CPD) Certified Report Developer (CRD) Certified Platform Administrator (CPA) Certified Advanced Administrator (CAA)
So sad. Who knows what happened…the family is in my thoughts and prayers. I wonder if once someone gets through whatever barriers they have about violence and does something irreversible, the shock pushes them to keep on going b/c suddenly it’s all ruined anyway? Like a critical mass or cascade rxn . . . It seems like some people are boiling so close to the edge of terrible action that they can make the transition to evil suddenly—and it only takes a few seconds in that state to start irreversible damage when guns are handy.What might have been an awful brawl in the old days escalates to mass murder with bullets in the mix. This is one of the few problems that alway seems totally intractable to me.. I can only retreat into prayer.
This website indicates that they were Malayalee: http://www.mercurynews.com/portlet/article/html/render_gallery.jsp?articleId=12036922&siteId=568&startImage=4
On a side note: I don’t think that his ethnic back ground is important at all. All I know is that this is very similar to another multi-homicide by a similar Indian guy a few months ago in the same area. I believe that this is depression causing this. I wish that Indian men get more counseling.
Extremely tragic. This shows again that there should be gun control. If those darn guns were not available so easily, probably there would have been a minor old-fashioned fight, and no lives lost. Yes, guns might save lives in rural regions infested with bears and psychos, but in urban places, they should be banned.
Great update to SM.
Definitely..there are some questions after reading these spinning stories – The murderer bought a handgun in Feb. and another one around the same time his bro-in-law had arrived in US. Why ? If as indicated there was some kind of fight it has to be historical since his bro-in-law never lived in the US for the past 15 yrs the murderer has lived here. If the fight was with bro-in-law then why would he shoot his wife too ? If his father-in-law/relatives were also aware “quarrels” then its exact nature should reveal whether this murder-suicide was abt family fight or depression ? How did the police establish that Devan killed all of them – based on fingerprints on the guns i suppose ?
I am not sure if I am angry or sad after reading this. No matter what the reason is, nothing justifies this violence. I know this area and honestly I have a hard time believing someone would need a gun for self-defense there. My prayers are with the remaining family members – especially with his wife who’s fighting for his life. I can’t imagine how she’d live the rest of her life with this.
This is CLEARLY domestic violence. I am an attorney who represents victims/survivors of domestic violence. In these cases, domestic violence fatalities, it is RARE that the murder/suicide is the first instance of physical violence. We don’t know the facts, because we were not there. I hope that the Desi community uses this tragedy to bring awareness to an issue that faces so many of our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, uncles and aunties.
Sometimes I think the pressure of having the perfect family that comes with the Indian culture makes people snap.
I completely agree with Zee and Shailey. Guns need to be banned. That might be a far out resolution though. The desi community has a “lets sweep it under the carpet” mentality when it comes to issues like domestic violence. We need to reach out and provide avenues for people in domestic violence situations to be able to express themselves, so that these types of mishaps can be prevented. My heart goes out to the kids, and I can’t imagine how the wife will be able to live her life.
Re #4. “I wish that Indian men get more counseling.”
Indian males and females..
I was bartending a desi wedding last weekend and got in conversation with an Uncle who was a practicing psychiatrist about how the treatment of depression and other various metal illnesses and their treatments are so highly neglected in our community. It is sad that mental health is still a taboo with the diaspora community. I once was in at a CVS in Jersey and the desi pharmacist, about my father’s age, mid 50’s, was obviously uncomfortable about refilling my anxiety medication. It was ridiculous that I felt like I had to explain myself over the choice to go on medication.
I wish peace to all those hurt by this tragic event and to those in the desi community who feel unable to discuss mental health issues.
I too agree with Shailey. A history of domestic violence in that family is highly likely. That could be the primary reason between the ‘quarrel’ between the brothers-in-law — brother defending/arguing the sister’s case.
Domestic violence is a well kept secret among Malayalees. Very common, but nobody talks about it. I even know two female attorneys who tolerate physical violence for the sake of children, reputation etc.
Another of those demographic paradoxes – higher incidence of domestic violence among South Indians, though there is more female autonomy, education and empowerment there.
I too agree with Shailey. A history of domestic violence in that family is highly likely. That could be the primary reason behind the ‘quarrel’ between the brothers-in-law — brother defending/arguing the sister’s case.
Domestic violence is a well kept secret among Malayalees. Very common, but nobody talks about it. I even know two female lawyers (one in Kerala and one in the Middle East) who regularly get beaten up by their husbands and suffer it for the sake of their children, ‘maanam’ etc.
Another of those demographic paradoxes – higher incidence of domestic violence among South Indians, though there is more female autonomy, education and empowerment there.
Sorry for the duplicate. Thought SM 2.0 didn’t like my first attempt!
Sorry about the technical glitches folks. Should have it all worked out soon.
Another of those demographic paradoxes – higher incidence of domestic violence among South Indians, though there is more female autonomy, education and empowerment there.
Can you cite the source for this?
PS at #17:
Prof. Nancy Luke of Brown University has studied domestic violence in Kerala. (Bina Agarwal of Institute of Economc Growth, India, too) If I remember correctly, ICRW has done studies in Tamil Nadu. They (and others in other places, can’t remember specifics) have found that domestic violence increases in the short run when women in patriarchal societies start to earn and demand more equity (subject to many qualifications).
money = greed
capitalism = rape
Living and working in the Bay Area, this unfortunately makes complete sense to me. Silicon Valley has become one of the most psychologically vulnerable areas in the country and I don’t know how more people DON’T snap. This is one of the most materially-focused, status-conscious, career-obsessed areas in the country – very different from what it was in my childhood. I have seen those values magnified at least 10 times in the local, recently-arrived South Indian community (based on what I hear from my recently-immigrated friends it is a pressure cooker- going to Challenger School, buying a home in Rivermark…all status symbols that show the rest of the Tamil/Andhra/whichever community the belong to that you have acheived the American Dream.) And in the last few months with the economy the way it is, Silicon Valley has become a fear-based culture. I always worried about the psychological toll it takes on anyone living here and it’s probably worse for immigrants who lack a support system and permanent status in the country. That doesn’t excuse the horrible thing this person did and the reason for the crime may have been personal, but when everyone is working until 2AM and they still can barely pay their mortgages on overpriced housing, that is bound to add to snappage potential.
I don’t like the new sepia! it’s too hard to read and too clumped together and missing all the awesome banners! BRING THE OLD SEPIA BACK!!!
Very sad story, something like this happened where I live in Michigan too, and they were indian as well! the father killed his wife, son and daughter and then he fled to india!
Sorry, for the grammar/spelling mistakes-I hate when I am in a hurry and do that. It should be “…status symbols that show the rest of the Tamil/Andhra/whichever community you belong to that you have achieved the American Dream.” I hope the new SM is an April Fools joke, because I am pretty sure it used to allow me to edit previous posts (aside from the general usability factor). 🙂
They (and others in other places, can’t remember specifics) have found that domestic violence increases in the short run when women in patriarchal societies start to earn and demand more equity
It’s difficult to document the pervasiveness of dv in a community. What you have stated above, doesn’t show that it is more prevalent than in any other society. DV increases (according to this study)…but what is the baseline from when it increases? Is it at a lower baseline than Punjabis, Gujaratis. I think its not helpful to state that in such and such community dv is more prevalent, when it’s hard to show that. I just think how you support a women (or man) in dv situations may have to take into account their cultural, linguistic make-up, but saying it’s more prevalent in the Asian community or other Norwegian community, isn’t accurate.
as reminder – it’s probably best not to speculate, because it can veer too often into a soliloquy that may be irrelevant, offensive or hurtful to the grieving. i do agree on some of the social issues under discussion, but it may be best to avoid insinuating any of these were at play in this situation.
one thought. please know your neighbors and talk to them. we watch over each other rather than watch each other. this is the single biggest guide to a healthy society. i know it sounds trite. i remember several years ago my mum did her check on our neighbor’s kid [the family was away]. she found he had drunk rat poison and was crapping all over the place. she dragged him out, kept him coherent, got me to help him throw it up. poor fellow was just a kid – maybe 14, and nobody knew he was as dpressed. anyway… this is such a sad story. i dont know what to make of it.
all that said… one cant really rationalize this – but why the kids?
Between this story and the one about the brother who decapitated his 5 year old sister, I have come to realize that people suck.
PS @ #23:
My area of academic expertise is not domestic violence. And my first hand knowledge is limited to Malayalees in Kerala. So no claims of authoritativeness when it comes to DV among Malayalees in the US.
US Malayalees will be a particularly interesting demographic sub-group to study intra-household power dynamics and DV as in a lot of DBD Mallu households wives earn more than husbands while the social norms are still quite patriarchal (except in the case of Nairs). It would be useful if somebody did a survey.
So true. Even in good quality demographic surveys, there is a lot of under reporting.
Agreed.
I did say I do not remember the specifics, but I do feel somewhat sure that I have read somewhere in the academic literature such an interpretation, about finding a direct relationship between female empowerment and DV along certain segments of the distribution, about DV being relatively more prevalent and tolerated in South India vis-a-vis North India, in spite of higher female empowerment, because of prevalent social norms etc.
For inter-state comparisons of Indians in India, the National Family Health Survey 2005 Report of IIPS, Mumbai will be one of the the most authentic sources. They will have summary statistics, but no interpretations.
You left out my clause “subject to qualifications” when you quoted me 🙂 That is where all those socio-cultural heterogeneity issues and how they are tackled in a particular study etc. come up. However, Luke is a sociologist (with an economist husband) and Agarwal is an economist, so their literature review and theory sections will have talked some about such factors.
External validity of case studies are always questionable, true. But they do provide valuable insights, particularly, those done by academics of Luke’s calibre. I wouldn’t dismiss them very lightly.
Okay, can’t remember the authors or specifcs, but there are also studies in Bangladesh that found that participation in micro-credit increased the incidence of DV for participants vis-a-vis non-participants.
Again can’t remember specifics, but it could be about Indians in India – while wealth and education had a negative relationship with the incidence of DV, there was no such difference when it came to help seeking behavior when abused.
I found this strange that this story was hardly covered in the US mainstream (national) media (after the first day). What gives?
i guess stronger emotional intelligence and some extra-curricular activities besides work that can act as a release from tensions is necessary to lead a happy and peaceful life in this cut-throat world.
why blame only the national media, sajaforum didn’t even care to mention about it in their website. they are busy with some nepali corn artist story.
The brother-in-law comes from India, is here only for two weeks and as able to obtain a job at HP? Is there a lack of software engineers in the Silicon Valley?
very tragic story – I work in this area; the last shooting spree in Santa Clara in the business complex I worked at, this one is just down the road.
I blame the gun lobby for making sure deranged minds have easy access to lethal weapons.
Khoofia, Your Mom is a hero. She saved that kids life. Thats amazing !!
First, I am an Indian. Second, I’m half Malayalee. These are my thoughts and I don’t care if you agree or disagree, but cyberspace, here they are:
Appu…Master….seriously?
There should be more restrictions or a firm cap placed on the number of Subcontinental immigrants allowed into the States. Let the community expand into its second, third, fourth and fifth generations and let them assimilate. Maybe then we can weed out these unfortunate consequences of godforsaken cultural traditions and values.
Right on Ms Abbie Faria. I totally agree. I was born in India and grew up in the Bay Area, but well away from the petty competitiveness and stupid social acrobatics of the Indian community. I went to a public school with the Amrikan children, then to a community college, transferred and graduated from UC Irvine. So yes, I’ll vouch for the fact that the Indian-American dream as it stands is one of the stupidest things our culture has brought to this country.
I like this new layout, though it’s a bit too cutesy. And for the love of all things sacred, can you please leave Twitter out. Let’s not have any twatting here.
I used to refer to Rivermark as Utopia. Everything was perfect — lawns and hedges and trees always mysteriously trimmed, always sunny despite the weather in surrounding areas, aunties’ moms strolling in saris without a stare from anyone else, dogs or 2.2 babies roaming without leashes, and rows of shoes belonging to wide-eyed hopeful couples neatly parked outside open houses. In a way, it was almost scary.
“The brother-in-law comes from India, is here only for two weeks and as able to obtain a job at HP? Is there a lack of software engineers in the Silicon Valley?”
RTFA. The brother-in-law worked for HP in India, was here for an assignment. But don’t let laziness get in the way of making an unnecessarily snide comment.
thats kinda creepy, and close to home . . . . .i wonder why mummy didnt tell me about it on the phone. .
Self-hate is probably the most prevalent cultural trait among desis.
M. Nam
Because lord knows White people don’t ever shoot up schools or beat their spouses or anything. No sir it’s all “Indian cultural traditions and values.”
There should be more restrictions or a firm cap placed on the number of Subcontinental immigrants allowed into the States. Let the community expand into its second, third, fourth and fifth generations and let them assimilate. Maybe then we can weed out these unfortunate consequences of godforsaken cultural traditions and values.
I’m sorry but this to me is a stupid statement…a “firm cap”…and it’s an ironic statement considering South Asians, and Indian immigrants are particularly successful in the US…Just recently we have news about a mother allegedly killing off her toddler (Caley Anthony), Rihanna allegedly being beaten to unconsciousness by her bf, a women in the States (who wasn’t desi) killing two of her foster children and cutting them up and putting them in the freezer for months…and you have zeroed in on desi “godforsaken cultural traditions”? I mean maybe it had nothing to do with godforsaken traditions, I’m malayalee and this is considered disgusting to me….why don’t you stop with the self-hate and essentializing of your own culture before demanding some cap on desi immigrants which is based on ignorance?
Answered your own question there I’d say.
I do think that alot of this stuff is culture and tradition(not all traditions are of the good kind).
Do you guys think that culture or tradition had anything to do with that Muslim guy in New York that owned a Muslim TV network and he cut his soon to be ex-wife’s head off?
Pakistani immigrants that kill daughters if honor is somehow tainted?
3 different Indian families in Chicago using arson to kill?
But of course, in the words of Chris Rock “Why cant people just be crazy”
Do I need to put up a link of each and every incidence of domestic violence or murder committed by non-Indians and point out how inane it is to describe any individual’s actions as “culture?”
I mean seriously.
Oh my Gods! THREE whole families!?
I guess this was done by Indians too then, because apparently arson is just an Indian thing.
Why is it so hard to just accept that some people do bad shit?
Oh my Gods! THREE whole families!?
Oh my god, that’s it…let’s cap all desi immigrants to the US based on these statistics and stereotypes...forget the whole idea of having desis buy homes in the US…let’s stereotype them another way
Compared to other groups there are not that many desis, but for some reason desi’s make the national news alot comapared to other groups due to the spectacular nature of the crimes they commit.
I never said it was the culture making them do it, so dont put words in my mouth.
These people were most likely going to kill no matter what, but maybe the specific way in which the crime was commited is culturally or traditionally formed.
And is it unusual to raise an eyebrow if over a period of 1 summer 3 desi families commit murder by arson? My reaction to that is ridiculus?
thanks for your comment RC. I am very proud of my folks.
Five people are dead and you want to feed trolls, argue about inane things and make ignorant generalizations. Stop. Please.
‘I blame the gun lobby for making sure deranged minds have easy access to lethal weapons.”
Stop blaming gun rights advocates for the actions of a sick individual.
It is important to point out that in India where access to guns is restricted, people use poison to murder the whole family.
it is important to point out that in a country where peanut allergies cause numerous incidents of anaphylactic shock, peanut farming is practised on a wide scale. tres morbid.
These people were most likely going to kill no matter what, but maybe the specific way in which the crime was commited is culturally or traditionally formed
I agree that there seems to be no desi socio-cultural trend or effect in this crime. Any crazy, depressed, short-tempered or DV prone guy could have done the same thing. The only desi angle could be whether this could crime could have been averted if desis are more open (not so common in the subcontinent) to taking help from counselors, shrinks etc. and if there should be more community oriented counseling (especially for first gens) who live here for a longer time and try to integrate with the society.