Kerala serial murder case: Jolly Shaju admits to have poisoned her family, says police

Agencies
October 8, 2019

Kozhikode, Oct 8: Jolly Shaju, who was arrested for allegedly poisoning to death six members of her family, over a period of 14 years in Kerala's Koodathayi village in Kozhikode district, has admitted that she killed them all, the police said on Tuesday.

The six deaths in the family took place between 2002 and 2016. While the first death, which is now being suspected to be a murder, was of Jolly's mother-in-law, the most recent to die in the family was a relative and mother of a two-year-old.

The Investigating Officer (IO) handling the serial murder case, told the media persons that Jolly allegedly killed them in order to take away the property.

He said that pursuant to the thorough analysis and consultation with the doctors, it was found that they all died because of cyanide poisoning.

The police had on Monday arrested Jolly along with a jewellery shop employee MS Mathew and one Prajikumar in connection with the deaths.

Prajikumar is accused of supplying cyanide to Jolly to carry out murders in Kudathai village of the district. Mathew and Prajikumar both were known to Jolly for a long time, the police said.

The police said that her mother-in-law, Annamma Thomas, was killed because "she was the most important person in that family".

"She looked after everything in the family. It was a move to gain control over the complete financial transactions within the family," the IO said.

In 2008, Tom Thomas, her father in law, was killed. "More reasons lead to his death. He was killed to gain possession of his property," he said, adding that once the duo had an "ugly fight".

In 2011, her husband breathed his last. The officer revealed that their relationship was in a very "bad state during the last days, which ultimately led to his death."

Three years later, Annamma's brother, who, the police claims had sought post-mortem to be conducted on the body of Jolly's husband, died. "I do not want to reveal how he was killed, we are still waiting for some more information," the police officer said.

The same year, a toddler, Alphine Shaju, was allegedly killed by Jolly. "She had told many people that she would have loved to have someone like Shaju (Alphine's husband) as her husband. In the case, it was told that the child died after she chocked some food while eating," he said, adding that the toddler died due to cyanide poisoning.

The last one to have been killed by the accused was Alphine's mother in 2016.

"According to Jolly, she gave her some water to drink and we could also find out that she died after drinking the water. The poison was mixed in that water. After all these deaths, she married him (Shaju)," the police divulged.

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News Network
December 18,2024

The Israeli prime minister says the regime's troops will remain stationed at a so-called “buffer zone” inside the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, seized following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, until another arrangement is found that will "ensure the usurping regime’s security."

Benjamin Netanyahu made the comments on Tuesday from the summit of Mount Hermon, known as Jabal al-Shaykh in Arabic, the highest peak in the area — inside Syria, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border with the strategic Golan Heights.

He was joined by the Israeli minister for military affairs, Israel Katz, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, head of the so-called internal security service Shin Bet, Ronen Bat, and Northern Command chief Major General Uri Gordin.

Netanyahu reiterated that Israel would remain in the area “until another arrangement can be found that guarantees Israel’s security.”

The prime minister said he had been on the same mountaintop 53 years ago as a soldier, but the summit’s importance to the Tel Aviv regime’s security has only increased given recent events.

It appeared to be the first time a sitting Israeli leader had set foot that far into Syrian territory.

For his part, Katz said Israeli forces would remain on the Syrian summit of Mount Hermon for “as long as necessary.”

He said, “We will stay here for as long as necessary,” asserting that deployment of Israeli troops to the strategically significant summit “strengthens security.”

“Mount Hermon's summit is Israel's eyes for identifying near and distant threats. From here, we can see Hezbollah positions in Lebanon to the right, and Damascus to the left,” Katz said.

Israeli military forces captured the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights hours after armed groups took control of the Syrian capital of Damascus on December 8.

Israel has been widely and vehemently condemned over termination of the 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria, and exploiting the chaos in the Arab nation in the wake of Assad’s downfall to make a land grab.

The buffer zone in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was created by the United Nations after the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.  A UN force of about 1,100 troops had patrolled the area since then.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said on Tuesday that the presence of Israeli soldiers, however long it lasts, violates the deal that established the buffer zone.

That agreement “needs to be respected, and occupation is occupation, whether it lasts a week, a month or a year, it remains occupation,” Dujarric pointed out.

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News Network
December 12,2024

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New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved bills to implement 'One Nation, One Election', and the draft legislations are likely to be introduced in Parliament in the ongoing Winter session, sources said.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The government is keen on holding wider consultations on bills which are likely to be referred to a parliamentary committee.

Sources said the government was also keen to consult the Speakers of various state legislative assemblies through the committee.

Moving ahead with its 'one nation, one election' plan, the government in September accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee for holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner.

Citing recommendations of the high-level committee, sources had said one of the proposed bills would seek to amend Article 82A by adding sub-clause (1) relating to the appointed date. It will also seek to insert sub-clause (2) to Article 82A relating to the end of terms of the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies together.

It also proposes to amend Article 83(2) and insert new sub-clauses (3) and (4) relating to the duration and dissolution of the Lok Sabha. It also has provisions related to the dissolution of the legislative assemblies and amending Article 327 to insert the term simultaneous elections.

This bill will not require ratification by at least 50 per cent of the states, the recommendation said.

However, any move to hold local body elections together with Lok Sabha and state assemblies will require ratification by at least 50 per cent of the state assemblies as it deals with matters relating to state affairs.

Another bill will be an ordinary one to amend provisions in three laws dealing with Union territories having legislative assemblies -- Puducherry, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir -- to align the terms of these Houses with other legislative assemblies and the Lok Sabha as proposed in the first constitutional amendment bill.

The statutes it proposes to amend are the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act-1991, the Government of Union Territories Act-1963 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act-2019.

The proposed bill will be an ordinary legislation not requiring a change in the Constitution and will also not need ratification by the states.

The high-level committee had proposed amendments to three Articles, insertion of 12 new sub-clauses in the existing articles and tweaking three laws related to Union Territories having legislative assemblies. The total number of amendments and new insertions stands at 18.

In its report submitted to the government in March, just before the general election was announced, the panel recommended implementing one nation, one election in two phases.

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News Network
December 21,2024

New Delhi: The Ministry of Law and Justice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has made an amendment to the Conduct of Election Rules, restricting public access to certain electoral documents that were previously available.

The original Rule 93(2)(a) of the 1961 Conduct of Election Rules stated, “all other papers relating to the election shall be open to public inspection.” However, following the amendment on Friday, the rule now reads, “all other papers as specified in these rules relating to the election shall be open to public inspection.”

Activists have raised concerns, claiming that the insertion of the phrase “as specified in these rules” limits access to various official documents created during elections to Parliament and Assemblies, which are not explicitly mentioned in the rules.

RTI activist Venkatesh Nayak pointed out that there are numerous documents, though not listed in the rules, that are generated by election officials such as Presiding Officers, Sector Officers (responsible for constituency vulnerability mapping), and those in charge of EVM movement and replacement of defective machines on polling day. These include reports from general, police, and expenditure observers, as well as Returning Officers and Chief Electoral Officers.

Nayak emphasized, “Access to these documents is crucial for ensuring the fairness of elections and the accuracy of results.”

The amendment comes shortly after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Election Commission to provide video footage and documents related to votes cast at a polling station in the recent Haryana Assembly elections to lawyer Mehmood Pracha. Pracha has criticized the amendment, asserting that it will withhold essential information. “This is a reconfirmation of the Election Commission’s bias,” he said.

Nayak further stated, “This amendment undermines the principle of full transparency established by the Supreme Court in the Electoral Bonds case. The notification of this amendment on the very day Parliament was adjourned sine die has deprived MPs of the opportunity to challenge its necessity in real time.”

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