The Kerala Cyanide killer changed several aspects in India, and still can. One of the most common tropes in India is a daughter-in-law facing trouble in her marital household. An entire generation of movie and television viewers has seen movies and series based on this concept. While Ekta Kapoor converted this concept into primetime television in the nineties, several filmmakers in the eighties made this an issue-based movie, including Sunil Dutt, who made the movie Yeh Aag Kab Bhoojegi (1991).Â
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But cut to the late 2000s, and you had a story about a daughter-in-law who killed several members of her marital house, and all because she had a desperate secret to hide – that and a love on the side. This is the story of Jollyama Joseph, who achieved infamy as the person behind the Koodathayi cyanide killings.
The Six Deaths Attributed to the Kerala Cyanide Killer
The number of deaths that are attributed to her is staggering, and all the deaths have one thing in common: cyanide. In 2002, Joseph’s mother-in-law died after drinking some water. In 2008, her father-in-law swooned, fell and died. In 2011, her husband, Roy Thomas, died of poisoning, followed by his uncle in 2014. Even Roy’s cousin’s wife and two-year-old daughter died under mysterious circumstances.
This CNN report says that Jolly confessed to the crimes but will now plead not guilty when the case comes to court. However, what stands out about Jolly is that she ran a ruse for decades, and she was a teacher at the prestigious National Institute of Technology, Calicut, NIT University.
The Other Fascinating Aspect about Jollyamma Joseph
While the fact that an entire family was wiped out in a decade or so is staggering, it is also staggering how a woman kept up the ruse for so many years. Surely, in all those years, someone might have asked for a favour at the university, for at least some kind of work. It is said that the devil is in the details. In this case, how this woman skirted the topic of being employed in a University all these years is equally fascinating as the deaths that surround her.
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Kerala is one of the most educated states in the country. India, in itself, is very interested in education, mainly because it means a promising future, better marriage prospects, etc. That a woman who claimed she worked in a University does not get some query or the other about her profession and requests some help is simply out of the realm of possibility.
According to the same report, Joseph was a well-liked individual, and nobody suspected her of anything.i Imagine you approaching a lecturer in a college to find out whether it is a good one for your daughter, she she doesn’t respond, and even if she is accused of murder, you still say, “She was a good person.” That boggles the mind.
News outlets and bloggers have conveniently forgotten about this aspect or never touched on it because it did little to generate sensational headlines. However, from a psychological and criminological point of view, it is beyond fascinating how Joseph could have run this ruse for more than a decade.
Motive of the Kerala Cyanide Murders
The case, as of 2023, was still in the courts, so everything that is out in the public domain is according to the investigating officials. According to police, the motive for the murders was different, ranging from fear and anger. The common consensus is that Jolly is still in prison because she had confessed to the crimes, and because the case is pretty complicated, what with suicide and murder forming part of the narrative.
Fiction Inspired by the Kerala Cyanide Murders
Though still in court, the Kerala cyanide killer case has attracted several filmmakers. Crime Patrol had multiple episodes on it, Netflix had a series on it, Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case, and Hotstar is now making a series on the case.
Currently, Joy is one of the most infamous names in the world of crime, whether purported, alleged or convicted. The case has grabbed enough attention to name it along with the likes of the Stoneman Murders and Raman Raghav, though those two happened for entirely different motives.
How this case moves in the courts remains to be seen.
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