A woman in Kerala accused of killing six members of a family, including husband, by poisoning is suspected to have attempted to kill three girls.
Relatives of three friends of the accused who met with unnatural deaths also raised suspicions over the deaths.
Superintendent of Police K G Simon, who is leading the investigation into the serial deaths at Koodathai in rural parts of Kozhikode, said more persons could have lost their lives if Jolly was not arrested. However, the police have not been able to find out the motive of the suspected killing attempts.
The police would be interrogating Jolly further in the coming days. Service of clinical experts may be also sought, sources said.
Also Read: Kerala: Woman, two held for serial deaths in a family
The three girls suspected to have survived Jolly’s attempt to poison were her first husband Roy’s niece and daughter of one of her (Jolly’s) close friends, Jayasree, who is a revenue department official. Jayasree alleged that her daughter suffered discomforts twice after having food.
Roy’s niece also suffered discomforts after having food a couple of years back. One of Roy’s family friend’s daughter was also reported to have suffered discomfort after having food. On all these occasions Jolly was present. Hence it was strongly suspected that Jolly tried to poison them, said police sources. Jolly’s role was also suspected in the deaths of Congress activist Ramakrishnan of Chathamangalam in rural parts of Kozhikode as well as two other youths. Ramakrishnan’s son Rohit alleged that his father had collapsed and died after having food. Rohit said his father had sold land for about Rs 55 lakh, which were also missing.
Relatives of two youths who died under similar circumstances in recent years have also raised suspicions over the deaths as they had dealings with Jolly.
Meanwhile, the Kerala revenue department launched a probe into allegations that revenue official Jayasree helped Jolly in faking documents to illegally inherit her first husband Roy’s family properties.