On a sweltering morning in Kozhikode, inside the Special Additional Sessions Court for Marad cases, the long-running legal battle over one of India's most infamous murder investigations reached its final phase. On July 31, 2026, Deputy Superintendent of Police R. Haridasan—the lead investigator of the Special Investigation Team (SIT)—entered the witness box to give his deposition.

Despite experiencing mild uneasiness due to fluctuating blood sugar levels, the veteran officer methodically walked the court through the prosecution's evidence under the examination of Special Public Prosecutor N.K. Unnikrishnan. Proceedings continued into August 1, 2026, marking the testimony of the final prosecution witness in the trial of the murder of Roy Thomas.

The trial of Roy Thomas is the first of six interconnected homicide cases against his widow, Jollyamma "Jolly" Joseph. Over a fourteen-year span between 2002 and 2016, six members of the Ponnamattom family in the village of Koodathayi collapsed and died under eerily similar circumstances. For years, the deaths were treated as unfortunate natural tragedies. It was only through the persistence of surviving relatives, supported by forensic reviews and police work, that the truth emerged.

Chronological Overview of Developments (2026–1997)

The Culmination of the Prosecution's Case (2025–2026)

The examination of DySP R. Haridasan in July and August 2026 marked the conclusion of an exhaustive evidentiary phase. As the officer who spearheaded the Special Investigation Team under former Kozhikode Rural Superintendent of Police K.G. Simon, Haridasan's appearance represented the final block in a prosecution case built over nearly seven years.

In the courtroom, Special Public Prosecutor N.K. Unnikrishnan guided the officer through the vast material record collected by the SIT. The prosecution examined 130 of the 270 witnesses listed in its chargesheet and submitted 235 documentary records alongside 23 physical material objects. O.P. Abdurahman, a witness who assisted investigators in tracing the supply chain of sodium cyanide, testified shortly before Haridasan took the stand.

This final legal phase followed pivotal forensic testimony delivered a year prior. On July 28, 2025, Dr. K. Prasannan, the former head of forensic medicine at Kozhikode Government Medical College, appeared before Judge K. Suresh Kumar. Dr. Prasannan evaluated the post-mortem findings originally recorded by the late Dr. R. Sonu, alongside subsequent chemical viscera analysis. He testified unequivocally that Roy Thomas died from acute cyanide ingestion, providing the legal foundation for the prosecution's case.

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                       EVIDENTIARY ARCHITECTURE OF THE TRIAL                     |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                                 |
|  [Scientific Medical Baseline]         [Investigative Chain & Motive]           |
|  • Autopsy & Viscera Examination       • DySP R. Haridasan Deposition           |
|    (Dr. K. Prasannan Testimony)     (Final Witness Examination)                 |
|  • Medical Board Symptom Mapping       • Chemical Supply Chain Mapping          |
|    (Kozhikode Medical College)     (O.P. Abdurahman Testimony)                  |
|                                                                                 |
|                                       │                                         |
|                                       ▼                                         |
|  +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+  |
|  |                 130 Witness Depositions & 235 Exhibits                    |  |
|  |          Submitted to Kozhikode Special Additional Sessions Court         |  |
|  +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+  |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Forensic Complexities, Witness Challenges, and Media Fallout (2023–2025)

The path to closing the prosecution's evidence was hindered by legal delays, witness hostility, and forensic obstacles. The trial formally began on March 8, 2023, after being transferred to the Special Additional Sessions Court. Proceedings had been delayed for three years due to judicial transfers and court closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the witness examination phase in mid-2023, the prosecution suffered minor setbacks when four witnesses turned hostile before Judge S.R. Syamlal. On July 13, 2023, Chundayilpoyil Mani and Kunnummal Veettil Afsal denied their previous police statements regarding the seizure of cyanide from the shop of the third accused, goldsmith Praji Kumar. They joined CPI(M) local leader P. Praveenkumar and notary C.V. Jayakumar, who had earlier retracted their depositions regarding document forgery and land transactions.

Simultaneously, scientific challenges emerged from laboratory tests. In April 2022, exhumed remains from four of the victims—Tom Thomas, Annamma Thomas, Alphine Shaju, and Mathew Manchadiyil—were dispatched to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Hyderabad. In early 2023, the CFSL reported that no traces of cyanide were detected in the bone and tissue samples. Forensic experts explained that sodium cyanide decomposes rapidly into volatile compounds or reacts with soil chemicals over long periods of burial. Investigators maintained that the physical autopsy of Roy Thomas and the medical board's evaluations provided sufficient evidence of poisoning across all six cases.

Outside the courtroom, the case attracted significant media interest. On December 22, 2023, Netflix released the true-crime documentary Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case, directed by Christo Tomy. In January 2024, the second accused, M.S. Mathew, filed a petition in Kozhikode seeking to block the documentary, arguing that its release during an ongoing trial could prejudice judicial proceedings. In March 2024, the Kozhikode Additional Sessions Court rejected the petition, ruling there were insufficient legal grounds to halt the screening.

Arrests, Judicial Custody, and Medical Panel Findings (2019–2022)

The legal proceedings against Jolly Joseph and her co-accused began following their arrest on October 5, 2019. On January 2, 2020, the SIT filed its first charge sheet in the Thamarassery Judicial First Class Magistrate Court. The 1,800-page document detailed the murder of Roy Thomas and charged Jolly alongside M.S. Mathew, Praji Kumar, and former CPM local secretary K. Manoj Kumar, who was implicated in forging property wills.

In February 2020, while remanded in judicial custody at the Kozhikode District Jail, Jolly Joseph attempted self-harm using a sharp object. Cellmates alerted prison wardens, and she was rushed to a district hospital before being transferred to Kozhikode Medical College, where emergency care stabilized her. Following her recovery, she was transferred to the high-security Kannur Women’s Prison.

Bail applications filed by the defense were rejected at every level of the judiciary. In late 2020, the High Court of Kerala and subsequently the Supreme Court of India dismissed bail petitions for Jolly Joseph and M.S. Mathew, citing the gravity of the alleged crimes, the risk of witness tampering, and the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution. Praji Kumar was later granted bail, while Jolly and Mathew remained in judicial custody.

                                  [JOLLY JOSEPH]
                                  (Prime Accused)
                                         │
                   ┌─────────────────────┴─────────────────────┐
                   │                                           │
                   ▼                                           ▼
          [M.S. MATHEW]                                 [PRAJI KUMAR]
    (Second Accused / Relative)                    (Third Accused / Goldsmith)
                   │                                           │
                   ▼                                           ▼
    Procured sodium cyanide for                    Supplied cyanide under assumption
    alleged stray dog extermination      it was for killing rats

To support cases where no initial autopsies were conducted, police convened a specialized Medical Board at Kozhikode Medical College in late 2019. Comprising neurosurgeons, toxicologists, general medicine physicians, and forensic surgeons, the panel evaluated seized hospital case records and witness depositions regarding the final symptoms displayed by all six victims.

The board concluded that all six deaths resulted from toxic poisoning consistent with cyanide. Crucially, the panel disproved Jolly’s assertion that two-year-old Alphine Shaju had died from choking on bread. The doctors noted that complete airway obstruction prevents vocalization, whereas witnesses explicitly recalled the child crying out in distress before suffering seizures and losing consciousness—a presentation characteristic of acute toxic ingestion.

Uncovering the Fraud: The Whistleblowers of Koodathayi (2017–2019)

The unraveling of the fourteen-year deception was driven by Roy Thomas’s surviving siblings, Rojo Thomas and Renji Thomas, supported by their neighbor Muhammad Bava.

Following Roy's death in 2011, Jolly produced a revised will purportedly drafted by her late father-in-law, Tom Thomas. The document transferred sole ownership of the family home and surrounding land to Jolly. Suspicious of the document, Rojo Thomas—who resided in the United States—returned to Kerala to investigate the witnesses who had signed the will.

 [ROJO THOMAS & RENJI THOMAS]
                     (Siblings of Deceased Roy Thomas)
                                    │
                                    ▼
       +---------------------------------------------------------+
       |             DISCOVERIES THAT BROKE THE CASE             |
       +---------------------------------------------------------+
       |                                                         |
       |  1. Discrepancy in Cause of Death                       |
       |     • Jolly's Story: Heart attack after empty stomach   |
       |     • Autopsy Evidence: Cyanide in stomach with         |
       |       undigested rice & chickpea curry                  |
       |                                                         |
       |  2. Exposure of Fabricated Career                       |
       |     • Jolly's Story: NIT Calicut Professor              |
       |     • NIT Registrar Statement: Never employed           |
       |                                                         |
       |  3. Fraudulent Property Transfers                       |
       |     • Forged Will transferring estate to Jolly          |
       |                                                         |
       +---------------------------------------------------------+
                                    │
                                    ▼
       [Formal Complaint to Kozhikode Rural SP K.G. Simon (2019)]

Rojo obtained a copy of the 2011 post-mortem report regarding his brother's death. While Jolly had told family members that Roy collapsed from a cardiac arrest after preparing an omelet on an empty stomach, the autopsy report documented lethal concentrations of cyanide and recorded that his stomach contained undigested rice and chickpea curry (kadala curry) ingested shortly before death. When confronted with the findings, Jolly maintained her original story.

Rojo and Renji also verified Jolly's professional credentials. For over fourteen years, Jolly had left the house every morning claiming to work as a professor at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Calicut, carrying a forged identity card. Inquiries with university administration confirmed she had never been employed by the institution. Lieutenant Colonel Pankajakshan K, then Registrar of NIT Calicut, confirmed to media outlets that Jolly Joseph had no professional association with the university, though police later noted she occasionally visited the campus canteen.

When Rojo and Renji initially voiced their concerns, relatives dismissed their claims, attributing the accusations to property disputes. However, as discrepancies mounted, the siblings filed a formal complaint with Superintendent of Police (Kozhikode Rural) K.G. Simon in mid-2019. SP Simon assigned crime branch investigators to discreetly review all six family deaths. Investigators uncovered over fifty contradictions in Jolly’s statements, leading to the exhumation of the family vaults in October 2019 and the subsequent arrests.

The Fourteen-Year Chain of Fatalities (2002–2016)

The deaths within the Ponnamattom family occurred over fourteen years, targeting individuals who held financial control or questioned domestic circumstances.

  2002: Annamma Thomas (Mother-in-law)
  └── Mutton soup laced with poison
       │
  2008: Tom Thomas (Father-in-law)
  └── Tapioca dish laced with cyanide
       │
  2011: Roy Thomas (First Husband)
  └── Rice & chickpea curry laced with cyanide [cite: 2, 11]
       │
  2014: Mathew Manchadiyil (Maternal Uncle)
  └── Poisoned beverage
       │
  2014: Alphine Shaju (2yo Niece)
  └── Laced communion feast food
       │
  2016: Sily Shaju (Cousin's Wife)
  └── Laced supplement capsule & water

Sily Shaju (January 2016)

In January 2016, 41-year-old Sily Shaju—the wife of Roy Thomas’s cousin, Shaju Zacharias—accompanied Jolly to a dental clinic in Thamarassery. While waiting in the reception area, Jolly offered Sily a bottle of water and a capsule, describing it as a medication for fatigue. Within minutes, Sily suffered violent convulsions, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed. She was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital, where the cause of death was recorded as epileptic cardiopulmonary arrest. No autopsy was performed after family members declined the attending doctor's suggestion. Year later, Jolly married Sily's widower, Shaju.

Alphine Shaju (May 2014)

Two years prior to her mother's death, two-year-old Alphine Shaju collapsed during her elder brother's Holy Communion celebration. Jolly was present in the kitchen area where food was being served. The toddler ingested food, began crying, suffered severe respiratory failure, and collapsed. She was rushed to a hospital in Kozhikode, where she died two days later.

Mathew Manchadiyil (February 24, 2014)

Mathew Manchadiyil, 68, was the brother of Annamma Thomas and the maternal uncle of Roy Thomas. Mathew had been the most vocal family member insisting on an autopsy following Roy’s death in 2011. In February 2014, while visiting the Ponnamattom home, Mathew collapsed shortly after consuming a drink served by Jolly. He died before medical help could intervene.

Roy Thomas (September 30, 2011)

By 2011, the marriage between Jolly and 40-year-old Roy Thomas was under severe strain due to financial instability and personal conflicts. On the night of September 30, 2011, Roy was found collapsed inside a locked bathroom at the house, foaming at the mouth. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Due to his uncle Mathew's insistence, an autopsy was conducted at Kozhikode Medical College. The toxicology analysis revealed lethal concentrations of cyanide in his viscera. At the time, police accepted Jolly's statement that Roy suffered from depression due to financial troubles and ruled the death a suicide.

Tom Thomas (August 2008)

Six years after his wife’s death, 66-year-old Tom Thomas collapsed after consuming a tapioca dish prepared by Jolly. Neighbor Muhammad Bava recalled hearing distress calls from the house and finding Tom lying flat on his back, foaming at the mouth. He died shortly after reaching the hospital. Following his death, Jolly produced a willed land deed transferring the Ponnamattom property into her name.

Annamma Thomas (August 2002)

The first death occurred in August 2002. Annamma Thomas, 57, a retired schoolteacher who managed the family's finances, drank a bowl of mutton soup at home. Shortly afterward, she developed severe nausea, lost consciousness, and collapsed. She died before reaching the hospital. Given her existing health conditions, the family attributed her collapse to a heart attack, and no autopsy was requested.

Comparative Matrix of the Six Deceased Victims

Early Origins: The Illusion of Ponnamattom (1997–2002)

The background to the events at Koodathayi dates back to 1997, when Jollyamma Joseph arrived as a bride from Kattappana in Kerala's Idukki district. She married Roy Thomas, the eldest son of Tom and Annamma Thomas. The family lived in "Ponnamattom," a prominent pastel-pink three-story residence enclosed by an iron gate in Koodathayi.

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                       THE DUAL EXISTENCE OF JOLLY JOSEPH                        |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                                                 |
|  [Public Community Persona]              [Hidden Operational Reality]           |
|  • Well-mannered, pious neighbor• College dropout from Idukki                   |
|  • Active parish member     • Fabricated M.Com & NIT credentials                |
|  • Helpful caregiver in sickness• Secretive daily outings                       |
|  • Professed NIT Professor   • Mounting debt & property forgery                 |
|                                                                                 |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Jolly integrated quickly into the local community. Neighbors described her as friendly, articulate, and deeply involved in local social gatherings and church events. Saidu N.K., a neighbor who lived next to the Ponnamattom house for two decades, recalled her as a well-mannered woman who regularly conversed with nearby families.

To her husband, in-laws, and neighbors, Jolly claimed to hold a Master's degree in Commerce (M.Com) and an academic appointment as a professor at NIT Calicut. Every morning, she left the house dressed formally, maintaining the routine of a working academic.

In reality, Jolly was a first-year college dropout. Her academic credentials were completely fabricated, sustained by forged identification cards and documents. For fourteen years, she maintained this dual life, using her standing in the community and family to avoid suspicion as unnatural deaths occurred around her.

Conclusion

The deposition of lead investigator DySP R. Haridasan in August 2026 brings the trial of Roy Thomas's murder to the brink of a verdict. As the Kozhikode Special Additional Sessions Court prepares to close the evidence, the legal system faces the task of evaluating a complex case resting on forensic autopsies, clinical reviews, witness testimonies, and circumstantial records.

The proceedings in the Roy Thomas trial are expected to establish the judicial framework for the remaining five homicide cases pending against Jolly Joseph. For the surviving members of the Ponnamattom family and the residents of Koodathayi, the trial's conclusion represents a critical step toward legal resolution after decades of deception and loss.