Kriti Mehrotra
With Netflix’s ‘Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case’ living up to its title in every way conceivable to chronicle the Koodathayi cyanide killings in Kerela, India, we get a documentary unlike any other. That’s because this film is the first to comprise not just archival footage but also exclusive interviews to really shine a light on how a single woman allegedly poisoned six people to death over 14 years. Yet for now, if you simply wish to learn more about her reported accomplice/lover MS Matthew (aka Shaji) — with a focus on his background as well as current standing — we’ve got the details for you.
Who is MS Matthew?
It was reportedly back around the mid-2000s when MS really got to know his paternal cousin Roy Thomas Ponnamattam’s wife Jolly for the first time, only for them to soon get romantically involved. The truth is he was a jewelry shop employee at the time while she’d claimed to have evolved from a housewife to a renowned college guest lecturer, so they often used to meet at her marital home. It thus comes as no surprise her elder, retired father-in-law, Tom Thomas, quickly caught on, reportedly leading to quite a bit of friction between the duo, that is, until he suddenly passed away in 2008.
Little did anyone know that not only had Jolly lied about her educational qualifications as well as her professional standing back then, but she was also allegedly responsible for the 66-year-old’s demise. According to police reports, she poisoned Tom with cyanide because she wanted to ensure he wouldn’t spill her secret liaison while also establishing a place for herself in the household through his will. For this, she’d asked her lover to procure the dangerous chemical commonly used in his line of work, asserting she needed it handy to get rid of a rat at home to avoid any further line of questioning.
Where is MS Matthew Now?
As per both Jolly and MS’ statements to authorities in 2019, she’d asked him for cyanide on two occasions, which she then ostensibly used to off five members of her husband’s close family one by one. This included Tom, Roy himself, an uncle named Matthew, a cousin’s wife, Sili, and the latter’s toddler daughter, Alphine, meaning he essentially unwittingly abetted her heinous criminal actions.
We say unwittingly because MS has since declared he had no clue what his partner was actually using the chemical for — he’d simply paid his co-worker Praji Kumar two bottles of alcohol plus $5,000 cash for the goods she’d demanded. Therefore, today, with court proceedings still ongoing to determine the level of his guilt in all five deaths, if any, he remains in remand at a district facility in Kozhikode.
Read More: Remo and Reynold Roy: Jolly Joseph’s Kids Are Now Hoping For Justice
