Second Husband Of Kerala Serial Killer Jolly Joseph Files For Divorce

Remember Serial Killer Woman Jolly Joseph from Kerala? The woman is in jail for murdering six people of her husband’s family – including his former wife and child – is believed to have killed them all over a span of 14 years by giving them food laced with cyanide.

Now, Jolly’s second husband Shaju Zacharia, on Monday filed divorce papers in a court in Kozhikode (north Kerala) citing her criminal past and mindless cruelty. In the petition he said was not aware of her past and that he could no longer live with someone accused of murder, reported Hindustan Times.

Jolly’s Horrific Past

Jolly married Zacharia, her first husband’s cousin in 2017 after allegedly killing his wife and daughter. She is currently in jail and Zacharia, a school teacher, is the main witness in two of the murders of which she is accused.

Jolly was arrested with three others in 2019 for allegedly killing six of her family. The special investigation team (SIT) that probed the sensational case filed charge sheets in six murder cases last year.

Two years ago, Jolly who is 49-years-old, slit her wrists in jail but this was noticed by jail officials who rushed her to the hospital.

SIT Findings

The SIT arrested her on charges of killings six members of the Ponnamatam family in Koodathai (Kozhikkode district) in a span of 14 years. These killings which took place between 2002 and 2016 were planned and carried out with clinical precision. The other accused are her accomplices M Mathew, Prachi Kumar and K Manoj, a former CPI(M) leader, who was expelled from the party in 2019.

Victim No. 1 was Anamma Thomas, a retired teacher in 2002. Then came Victim No. 2, her husband Tom Thomas, also a retired teacher, in 2008. Victim No. 3, their son Roy Thomas (the first husband of Jolly) died in 2011 and another relative Victim No. 4 Mathew, the brother of Anamma, died in 2014.

In 2016 Victim No. 5 Cily, Zacharia’s first wife and their one-year-old child, Victim No. 6, died under mysterious circumstances. Zacharia was Roy Thomas’ cousin and Cily and Jolly were close friends.

All deaths were believed to be natural until 2018 when Roy Thomas’ brother Rojo Thomas insisted on an investigation based on the post mortem reports of Roy Thomas’ death (it showed death by cyanide poisoning) and documents provided by Jolly to the revenue department authorising transfer of the family’s property in her name.

The six bodies were exhumed and traces of poison were recovered two of them after an intense forensic examination.

Among the witnesses in this case are Jolly’s two children, whose statements were recorded before a magistrate. She was charged with murder, conspiracy, destroying of evidence and forgery.