Amid spotlight on Jolly, Tamil Nadu woman kills brother, 2 other kin

Chennai: As the serial murders reported from Koodathayi village in Kerala's Kozhikode district hit the headlines across India and outside, a similar case has been reported from neighbouring Tamil Nadu state, with the crimes being carried out recently.

Similar to the Kerala horror, a woman is behind the murders reported from Senthipalayam in Tirupur district. She is suspected of killing her brother, sister-in-law and her daughter's mother-in-law over various issues. Their bodies were buried in the backyard of the house.

The accused, who has been arrested, has been identified as Kannammal (54). The police said that they are probing if she is involved in more murders.

Kannammal confessed to the cops that she was helped by her daughter Poonkudi and son-in-law Nagendra in the murders.

A textile mill worker, Kannammal’s first victim was her daughter's mother-in-law Rajamani (60). The woman was eliminated for apparently ignoring Poonkudi. The incident took place five months ago.

Kannammal also murdered her brother Selvaraj (49) and his wife Vasanthamani (42) over a property dispute. The couple, who had arrived at Kannammal's house to invite her for their son's wedding, were strangulated to death after mixing intoxicants in their food.

Kannammal was arrested following a probe into a missing complaint filed after the disappearance of Selvaraj and Vasanthamani.

In the Koodathayi case of Kerala, 47-year-old Jolly Joseph was arrested earlier this month over the murder of her first husband Roy Thomas. She had then allegedly confessed to killing other five members of Roy's family, including his parents.

She had allegedly committed these murders between 2002 and 2016.