The Curry Murder in Singapore

Rewinding 25 years back to 9 January 1987, to what should have been an average Friday morning for Detective G. Alagamalai in Singapore.

Detective Alagamalai was working at the time his pager buzzed. It was his trusted informant whom he had known for a few years, but the tip he shared left Detective Alagamalai in disbelief and disgusted. The tip was,

Three years ago, a man had been murdered, chopped into pieces, and cooked in a curry dish.

Detective Alagamalai was skeptical of the tip as Singapore is rated as one of the safest cities in the world with very low crime rates. Regardless of his own opinion, he brought it up to his superior, who was equally skeptical but assigned Dt. Alagamalai to investigate further.

What seemed like a far-fetch tip slowly unraveled as Dt. Alagamalai investigated.

Starting with the victim’s name, Ayakannu Marithamuthu, Detective Alagamalai found out that the 34-year-old was a father of three and was a caretaker for a holiday chalet in Changi. His wife, Nagaratha Vally Ramiah, reported missing him on 18 December 1984 when he failed to return from his trip to Genting Highlands, a location famous for its casino.

Detective Alagamalai found it unlikely that Ayakannu would be there to gamble as Ayakannu had little money with him and he had already resorted to borrowing $600 from his employer to purchase school books for his children.

Detective Alagamalai ruled out that Ayakannu chose to disappear and leave his family by choice as he had made plans for the future with an application for days off from his employer on 21 December to 22nd.

Something happened to him.

The Bizarre Murder

After 5 months of investigation of questioning nearly 30 people, Detective Alagamalai identified 8 suspects and launched raids to bring them in. They were Nagaratha, her three brothers and wives, her mother, and her sister-in-law.

Everyone initially denied any knowledge and involvement until one of them eventually cracked. The suspect revealed that Ayakannu was bludgeoned with an iron rod before being chopped into pieces and cooked in curry.

On 12 December 1984, Nagaratha’s three brothers brought Ayakannu to Orchard Presbyterian Church’s caretaker quarters, where one of the brothers worked and it’s within walking distance from Ayakannu’s home.

That night, Ayakannu was attacked and bludgeoned with an iron rod. To get rid of the body, Ayakannu’s body was chopped and cooked in a curry with a strong blend of spices and chili powder. Notably, one of the brothers was a butcher in a mutton store. Ayakannu’s bones were thrown into multiple black plastic bags and disposed of at different garbage cans along the road.

On 27 March 1987, the three brothers (Balakrishna Ramia, Rathakrishnana Ramayah, Shanmugam Chandra), Nagaratha were charged with murder while Nagaratha’s sister-in-law (Mary Manuee) and mother (Kamachi Krishnasamy) were charged with abetting the crime.

While no resources clearly indicated the motive of the alleged murder, it was speculated it was due to Ayakannu’s temperamental nature. He was described as a drunkard and physically abusive to his wife when he was drunk. Although he would later apologize once he calmed down, he would fall back into this behavior when he drank again.

Three months later, all 6 were brought to court, where the prosecution stated there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed against them as the remains of the body and murder weapon were not found. All 6 were discharged and released, but they can still be charged with the same offense if enough evidence is presented.

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