The Kollam police on Thursday arrested Jayamol on the charge of murdering her son Jithu Job, whose charred body was recovered on Wednesday. The 14-year-old student of Kundara MGD Boys’ High School had been missing since Monday night.
“The woman has been arrested and currently we are investigating the possibility of any other person’s involvement in the crime,” said Kollam Police Commissioner A. Sreenivas.
According to the police, it was a burn mark on Jayamol’s hand that triggered suspicion.
On interrogation, she gave contradictory statements and later the police found traces of burning near the compound wall. They retrieved the boy’s sandal near the wall that led them to the body hidden in an adjacent plot.
Confession
Immediately after the police recovered her son’s body, Jayamol confessed to killing him and burning his body. According to her statement, she strangulated him using a shawl and burned his body twice. She first tried to burn the body beside the compound wall, but later dragged it to the deserted rubber farm next to the house. She borrowed kerosene from her neighbour for the second attempt and waited for the body to burn down completely.
Calm and collected
During interrogation, Jayamol impassively told the officers how she murdered her son following a spat and appeared very calm and collected during the entire process. “About the motive, we are trying to verify the statement given by her, corroborating it with others,” the commissioner said.
Though police had earlier reached an assumption that the crime was carried out single-handedly, now they are exploring all angles, including the possibility of an accomplice.
