Kerala cyanide murders: Kozhikode court sends Jolly Joseph, two others to police custody till 16 October

Kozhikode: A Kerala court on Thursday sent Jolly Joseph, arrested in connection with the death of her first husband following consumption of cyanide-laced food in 2011, and two others to seven days police custody. [caption id=“attachment_932699” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Getty Images[/caption] Jolly Joseph, her close friend MS Mathew, and Prajikumar, a goldsmith, were produced before the Thamarassery judicial magistrate court which remanded them to police custody till 5 pm on 16 October. A huge crowd, which had gathered in front of the court premises, booed the three accused when they were produced. A large number of police personnel had been posted to prevent any untoward incidents. While being taken to the court, Prajikumar told the media that he was innocent and he had given cyanide to Mathew for killing rodents. In their custody application, police has listed four reasons, including Roy Thomas’ addiction to liquor and blind faith in superstitions which prompted Jolly to eliminate him. The three are being questioned by police. Eight years after Roy’s death, Jolly and two others were arrested on 5 October as police began a probe on the basis of a complaint received from Roy’s brother. Investigations into the death of five others members of the family between 2002-16 - Roy’s mother Annamma, father Tom Thomas, Annama’s brother Mathew, one year old Alfine and her mother Sili - are also on. Jolly married Roy’s relative Shaju in 2017, whose wife and daughter died in 2016. The Special Investigation Team, probing the case, has been expanded with a total of 35 officers. The overall supervision will be in the hands of Northern range IGP Ashok Yadav.