Woman suspected to have slow-poisoned her family over a year

NEIGHBOURS ALERTED THE POLICE WHEN 3 MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY DIED OF THE SAME SUDDEN UNEXPLAINED ILLNESS WITHIN WEEKS OF EACH OTHER

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Police arrested a 39-year old woman for the murders of her two daughters and father and mother, with all dying under similar circumstances, and with three of the deaths happening since January.

After questioning PK Soumya for eight hours, police confirmed her arrest in the night. “She admitted to her crime. We have registered her arrest. All other details will be made available on Wednesday,” said Thalasserry assistant police superintendent Chaitra Teresa John.

Soumya, a mother of two who is separated from her husband, was living with her parents in Kerala’s Pinarayi village, the base of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The first death, of Soumya’s then year-old daughter, took place in 2012, around the same time she moved in with her parents. The girl died after a brief bout of vomiting and diarrhoea.

Her older daughter, eightyear-old Iswayra, died on January 21 this year. She exhibited the same symptoms before death. Soumya’s mother Vadavathi Kamala (68), died on March 7 and father OK Kunjikannan (76), on April 13. Again, they displayed the same symptoms before death. Suspicious neighbours sensed a pattern and alerted the police.

As all four deaths occurred at home, no complaint was lodged and the funerals were performed without post-mortem examinations.

With a court’s permission, police exhumed Iswayra’s remains on Sunday. A team of doctors and forensic experts found high traces of aluminium phosphide, a common pesticide used for killing rats in the body, police said.

They have since been questioning Soumya.

“Her statements are inconsistent and contradictory. We suspect some foul play,” said a police officer who asked not to be identified.