By Violet Li
A State Coroner was unable to determine the reasons behind a Dandenong North mother killing herself and her two children in Cranbourne West in March 2022.
On the night of 24 March, 37-year-old Jasmine Thomas drove her two children, 6-year-old Evlyn and 3-year-old Carolyn, to an area along the Western Port Highway in Cranbourne West, parked there, and deliberately set fire to the car the three of them were sitting in. They were found deceased in the car once the fire was extinguished.
CCTV footage showed that before the fatal incident, Ms Thomas purchased a fuel container which she later filled with petrol.
State Coroner Judge John Cain concluded that it was difficult to accurately determine the reasons behind the fatal incident. He presented two conclusions in separate reports for the mother and the children.
In the report on Ms Thomas, he concluded that she suffered an episode of psychosis.
In Evlyn and Carolyn’s cases, he found that “Ms Thomas was experiencing significant stress in her relationship and there was evidence of a number of relevant family violence risk factors in the lead up to the fatal incident”.
During the investigation, the husband James Palakamannil reported to the coroner judge that his wife might have had post-natal depression and during Covid she became paranoid.
It was “a big shame to acknowledge such problems in their community”, Mr Palamannil said.
Ms Thomas was of Indian background, born in Kuwait, and moved to Melbourne in 2016 with Mr Palakamannil, who was also of Indian descent.
The two met through a website for arranged marriages and were married in India in 2012.
Judge Cain discovered that in June 2021, Ms Thomas told her mother she was upset about “issues in her marriage” and was diagnosed by her GP with mild depression.
She was referred to a psychologist and denied having any suicidal thoughts or intent in the consultation. She said the lack of family support and the stress from balancing her work and caring responsibilities contributed to an increase in arguments between her and her husband.
In January 2022, two months before the fatal incident, Ms Thomas told her mother she wanted a divorce.
As Judge Cain found Ms Thomas’s actions with her children constituted “family violence”, he examined the previous relevant circumstances.
It was found that Mr Palakamannil reported her to the police for property damage in September 2021. He said to the police that he was not in fear, but Ms Thomas had been increasingly physically and verbally abusive since January 2021.
A Family Violence Intervention Order (FVIO) was issued to Ms Thomas in November.
Judge Cain noted that though professional services identified Ms Thomas as the alleged perpetrator of family violence, the evidence suggested that “this was not an accurate depiction of the relationship”.
Ms Thomas reported to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) after the September incident that her husband was “making her look crazy” and used coercive control and financial abuse on her.
Further evidence showed that Mr Palakamannil would “force her onto the bed in the room and not let her leave the home if she was angry and screaming, due to the shame it would bring”.
Judge Cain noted that there might have been “issues of misidentification in the context of family violence”.
“If this was a case of misidentification, a specialist family violence worker may have been able to engage with Ms Thomas around her support needs and reasons for her reported use of violence,” he wrote in the report.
Mr Palakamannil attended the coroner’s court on the day the report was delivered.
He told the court that he never would imagine laying down all of the most important people in his life at the same time.
“When you see the coffin go down with all of your favorite people, your life changes. You’ll never be the same. You’ll never see them, touch them, feel them again,” he said in tears.
“Suddenly, 10 years of my life just disappeared.”
He said he wished his wife acknowledged and sought help.
“I wish she had people who understood her,” he said.
“She was too lonely. She struggled to connect or engage with people and make friends. When she couldn’t anymore, I believe she thought the end would be a relief.
“She didn’t want to leave them behind. Maybe it is another form of love we do not know of.”
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