Kerala serial murders: Jolly Thomas makes shocking revelations
The court remanded Jolly Thomas, her two accomplices -- M.S. Mathew, who procured cyanide and jewellery store worker Praju Kumar -- to the six-day police custody for murder of Roy Thomas, her husband. At present, this is the only case that has been registered against her.
The story of serial family killer Jolly Thomas, as revealed from the police report submitted to the court on Thursday, seems straight out of a crime thriller.
The court remanded Jolly Thomas, her two accomplices -- M.S. Mathew, who procured cyanide and jewellery store worker Praju Kumar -- to the six-day police custody for murder of Roy Thomas, her husband. At present, this is the only case that has been registered against her.
The police informed the court that custodial interrogation of all three was required as they suspected Jolly Thomas's involvement in five other deaths as she appeared to be the common thread.
The police, which have questioned over 200 people in this case, didn't rule out more arrests.
The 47-year-old housewife, till the other day, for many in Koodathai was someone who would pass of as an ideal homemaker. The social media is awash with pictures of hers taking part in family and church tours.
But the unfolding events have left many gasping for breath, asking to oneself, "is this the same lady seen in all the group photographs, looking so simple and humble. How she could do all this."
On Thursday, the people were in for further shocks when her confession to the police was placed before the court detailing the reason why she eliminated her husband Roy Thomas by administering cyanide.
According to the police report, she was fed up with Roy, who never had a permanent job and she wanted her husband to have a permanent job. Also, Roy was a habitual drinker, highly superstitious and his objections of her lifestyle led to she eliminating him.
The police report also points out how she took several people, including her present husband Shaju, a school teacher, for a ride for several years that she was a lecturer at the NIT Kozhikode.
To maintain the smokescreen about her NIT status, she would at times get her second husband Shaju called on his mobile phone asking him if he could pass on the phone to Jolly, the NIT teacher, as her mobile was switched off.
Also, she would go around carrying answer-sheets to show off her links to the NIT.
The probe team has also found their involvement in some real estate deals. The police hope to land some more evidences by Wednesday when Jolly Thomas would be produced in the court. The police are digging deep to not let her wriggle out on the grounds of lack of evidence.
B.A. Aloor, famous for appearing in several high-profile cases, who will be representing Jolly Thomas, told the media the police were unlikely to have incriminating evidences against his client. All the deaths, barring that of the young child, looked like suicides, he added.
The first in the family to die in 2002 was Jolly's mother-in-law Annamma, a retired teacher. She was followed by Jolly's father-in-law, Tom Thomas, in 2008. In 2011, their son and Jolly's husband Roy Thomas died, followed by the death of Roy's maternal uncle, Mathew, in 2014.
A two-year-old child of Sily, a relative by marriage, died the following year, while Sily herself died in 2016.
The police began the probe into the deaths after Roy Thomas' brother, Rojo Thomas, who is settled in the USA, approached the Superintendent of Police and voiced suspicions over the series of mysterious deaths.
Rojo has been asked by the police to return from the US to help in the investigation.
The police have sent the exhumed remains for forensic examination. Initial reports have indicated poisoning as the cause of all deaths.
Given the thickness of the crime plot, its twists and turns, six deaths allegedly at the behest of the lady of the house who attended regular church services, and various other aspects that are unfolding by the day, it would not suprise many if someday the story is turned into a blockbuster movie.