After she was arrested over the death of her first husband Roy Thomas, Kerala’s alleged serial killer Jolly has now been arrested for a second death, of Cily.
Cily had passed away under mysterious circumstances in 2016, two years after her daughter Alphine passed away, presenting similar symptoms. A year after Cily's death, Jolly got married to the former's husband, Shaju, in a private ceremony in Kattapana, Idukki.
The Vadakara coastal CI KB Siju recorded Jolly’s arrest over Cily’s death in the Kozhikode district jail, on Friday, according to reports.
During interrogations, police reportedly found that Jolly had given cyanide-coated pills to Cily at a dental clinic in 2016 - allegedly the third attempt to murder her. In 2014, Alphine was allegedly given bread laced with cyanide during the Holy Communion of her sibling.
Police claim that Jolly had planned to murder Cily, too, on the same day as Alphine, but failed to do so.
The 47-year-old woman is the prime suspect in the sensational Koodathayi murder cases, in which six members of her family in Kozhikode were allegedly poisoned to death.
The police are yet to register Jolly’s arrests in the deaths of the four other persons in the family.
On Friday, accused persons Jolly, Mathew MS and Praji Kumar were shifted to the Kozhikode district jail after their police remand ended. The trio was produced before the Tharamassery Judicial First Class Magistrate court, which will also consider their bail petition. The police are also reportedly going to seek permission to arrest Mathew, who has been named an accused in the death of Cily.
Jolly’s ‘friend’ surrenders
Meanwhile, a woman found in several photographs with alleged serial killer Jolly Joseph surrendered before the police on Friday. The crime branch had been on the lookout for the woman - identified as Rani - who had been absconding earlier.
Believed to be Jolly’s ‘close friend’,' Rani was running a tailoring shop, near the NIT campus in Mukkom, where the accused claimed to be working as a lecturer. Rani's tailoring shop is no longer functioning.
Rani arrived at the Kozhikode Rural SP office in Vadakara on Friday and was interrogated by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which unearthed crucial information on Jolly’s double life as an ‘NIT lecturer’.
Rani and Jolly had even attended NIT’s annual cultural fest, Raagam, in 2019, as shown in a photograph where the duo can be seen posing inside the campus.
According to reports, Jolly was reluctant to divulge more information on Rani during questioning. From Jolly’s call logs and photo gallery, the investigating officers also learnt that Rani had been among the people that Jolly had called up the most. She also appeared in several photos and selfies found in Jolly’s gallery.