Kerala serial killer a 'psychopath'

Thiruvananthapuram : Despite being cheerful in appearance, did Jolly Thomas, the serial cyanide killer of Kozhikode, suffer from a personality disorder?

The police suspect that the ruthless serial killer could have hidden traits of a psychopath, who went on to eliminate her husband, in-laws and relatives one after the other.

Jolly, who killed six family members at regular intervals spanning over 14 years, could also be suffering from split personality, where she led two different roles in life -- that of a housewife and a cold blooded serial killer -- feels Director General of Police (DGP), Kerala, Lok Nath Behera.

In fact, the overall jovial personality of 47-year-old Jolly Thomas has baffled the investigators, who are interrogating one of the most intriguing criminal minds accused of wiping out an entire family.

While primary forensic evidence suggests that Jolly poisoned six family members to death by serving them food laced with cyanide, her friends and close relatives feel that she is 'innocent' and is being framed in the case.

The police have finally decided to conduct an in-depth psychoanalysis of Jolly to ascertain whether she had any traits of being a psychopath.

The cyanide serial killings seem to be the rarest of crimes to be reported in India in recent times. No wonder, the modus operandi of the killings has stunned state police chief Behera, who has investigated several high-profile cases as Joint Director, Special Crimes, in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"Let me admit, this case is too complicated as it involves a homely lady who apparently looks very normal in her behaviour, but evidence gathered by us indicates that she is a serial killer.

I have now asked the officials to engage the best psychologists to carry out an in-depth study of her mental behaviour," the IPS officer of Kerala cadre told IANS.

On potassium cyanide being used by Jolly as a lethal weapon, Behera said that prima-facie the forensic examination of the mortal remains of the victims, which have been exhumed from their graves, suggest that poisoning caused all the deaths.

Meanwhile, Jolly's son Romo Roy (21) said that though it was difficult to believe that her mother could execute the killings of his father, grandfather, grandmother and other family members, if the evidence gathered against her suggests that she is an accused, then the law should take it's own course.