In his latest documentary on DocuBay, Patrick Graham unearths the untold stories of the women preyed upon by Goa’s serial killer Mahanand Naik, challenging the true crime genre’s obsession with the killer
True crime documentaries often place the murderer at the centre of the narrative, but film director Patrick Graham defies this approach in his latest documentary, The Dupatta Killer, released on DocuBay. “What interests me about the case isn’t the serial killer—I think serial killers are overexposed—but the lives of the women who were murdered by Mahanand Naik,” says Patrick. “They had hopes and dreams yet Mahanand took advantage of them. It is a very cruel crime driven by the selfish and petty needs of a particular man.”
The Dupatta Killer is about Goa’s most notorious serial killer, Mahanand Naik, who would befriend unsuspecting women, gain their trust, and then kill (allegedly with their dupattas) and rob them. His crimes are said to have taken place between 1994 and 2009.
Patrick Graham says he spoke with Mahanand Naik’s cousins and neighbours to know more about him.
Patrick desists from using psychological labels to explain Mahanad’s motives. “Mahanand was not operating to get fame or infamy, it was because he could get away with it, and that further emboldened him. The labels ‘psychopath’ or ‘narcissist’ are too simplistic a generalisation. Mahanand was an opportunist, preying on vulnerable women,” he says.
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Patrick says he spoke with Mahanand’s cousins and neighbours to know more about him. “They said his parents never disciplined him when he did anything wrong. He had six brothers — it was a male-dominated family — and they would often get into fights. Mahanand would turn violent within a flick of a second.”
Mahanand’s crimes went unnoticed from 1994 until he was finally arrested in 2009. He was also an accused in a rape case. “Mahanand and his wife befriended a 15-year-old girl, who was living alone with her sister. He started raping her and she probably didn’t even know what was going on— she may not have even realised what a healthy relationship even looked like,” says Patrick.
The young girl’s complaint gave the impetus to arrest Mahanand but the justice system failed her. “She is almost like a heroine but she never received justice. Her plea was overturned by the High Court.” The reasons, says Patrick, were purely based on the subjective analysis by two middle-aged men—the judge and the lawyer—that she didn’t come forward with her complaint for years. “They also said there was not enough evidence of coercion in the photos that Mahanad took of her, or that she wasn't nude, which is ridiculous because they were horrific.”
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Mahanand’s crimes went undetected mostly because he targeted marginalised, vulnerable women. While some women’s bodies were found, some women went missing. “The families of the women who went missing assumed they had eloped. It was also very difficult for the victim’s families to deal with the long drawn out court process,” says Patrick.
Given that the crimes took place many years ago, how did Patrick and his team go about the research? “We worked with the Goa-based journalist, Mukesh Kumar, who followed the entire case. He has comprehensively chronicled the case by talking to the entire police teams, legal teams, some of the victims, etc, to make the most exhaustive account of the crime.”
The documentary has been criticised for being one sided and assuming the guilt of the perpetrator. Patrick responds: “One criticism I read was saying that we only relied on one journalist for facts, which isn't accurate. Many documentaries will have a single source of access. Mukesh spoke to other journalists, we spoke to other journalists. We also have a legal team to look into the claims. On paper, Mahanand’s conviction was only for two murders. We had to take a decision on whether he was guilty of the other crimes he was accused of. I have serious doubts about his innocence just by reading the investigation reports and court documents in detail — but it is very difficult convicting cases based on circumstantial evidence and I think the police and prosecution in 2009 did a great job.
Patrick stresses that even if the murders Mahanand was not found guilty of are discounted, he is still a double murderer. “It surprises me that some people are more interested in defending a convicted murderer than demanding justice for a young girl who was raped and blackmailed for years.”
Concerning the reported claims about Mahanand’s release, Patrick weighs in on the question of whether a serial killer can be reformed. “Evidence suggests that serial killers cannot be reformed—there have been instances of reoffending and psychiatric studies that suggest such. However, he stresses: “I do believe that prison is a place for rehabilitation and reformation. If he is to be released, as the forensic psychologist Krupa Nishar, who appeared in the documentary, pointed out, you need a panel of experts to evaluate his behaviour. He would also need to have a guarantor from a respected member of society like Father Fernandez.”
Patrick’s other true crime documentary, Dancing on the Grave, attempts to portray the Shakereh Khaleeli murder case sensitively while maintaining international standards. “Dancing on the Grave started Amazon Prime’s slate of true crime films. It was a challenge but we had a good team and a good budget and I'm proud of what we achieved. Filming in India is cheaper than abroad so it's sometimes easier to get good results with less.”
Even though Patrick has traversed different genres, he is on a crusade to make a good horror film. He admits that the zombie horror television series, Betaal, which he wrote and directed, was a “crazy gamble” that didn’t pay off. “I perhaps disappeared too far into a Western genre and didn't consider the Indian audience enough, it was a hard lesson well learned,” says Patrick, who moved to India in 2010.
Even as he speaks of his interest in making a horror film, Patrick loves documentaries, having studied it in BA and MA at the London Film School. “At the same time. I think documentaries and horror films are ethnically agnostic— horror is its own language and it's a first language for me!”
Patrick says that his films Ghoul and Betaal were fairly western in style. “In my indie projects, I like to make my films in a Western style with a focus on Indian stories.” He adds that he dreams of making something big and mainstream that serves up what the local audience would like to see.
