By Sagaya Fernando | September 2, 2026
Kottayam, Kerala, INDIA: Three Malayali women who had built a close friendship in California and celebrated Onam together only days earlier are at the centre of a shocking double-death investigation after two of them were killed within a short span on August 28 and their mutual friend was arrested in connection with the incidents.
The victims have been identified as Anjana Hari, 35, a native of Thrissur district, and Ann Mary Mathew, a Kerala native living in California. Their friend Anila, a native of Kottayam district, has been taken into custody by police in California.
The circumstances surrounding the two deaths and the motive behind them remain under investigation.
According to police and information received by the families, Anjana died after suffering serious injuries in an alleged hit-and-run incident at the Mill Creek apartment complex in Milpitas. Shortly afterwards, Ann was found fatally stabbed at a residence in San Jose.
The deaths have left relatives and friends in Kerala stunned, particularly because the three women were known to share a close relationship.
Friends had celebrated Onam together
Family acquaintances said Anjana, Ann and Anila had been close friends for several years and had recently celebrated Onam together. Photographs of the three dressed in traditional Kerala attire during the celebration have made the tragedy even more difficult for their families to comprehend.
They had also reportedly gone to a movie together recently.
Jacob Kuruvila, a family friend who has known Ann's family for years, described her as warm and supportive.
“Ann was a good child and was good-natured. My children are also in California, and Jacob and Ann were a great support to them. Whenever I went to the US, I would visit their house,” Kuruvila said.
He said the families had maintained close relations for years and that the women had shared a strong friendship in California.
Friends and relatives are now struggling to understand what could have happened between the three women in the hours leading up to the deaths.
Anjana killed in Milpitas
The first incident was reported at the Mill Creek apartment complex in Milpitas on the afternoon of August 28.
According to the Milpitas Police Department, officers responding to a report of a hit-and-run collision found a woman with serious injuries in the apartment complex parking lot. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The victim was subsequently identified by her family as Anjana.
Police searched the surrounding area and located a blue SUV matching the description of the vehicle allegedly involved in the collision in a nearby parking lot. A woman was taken into custody in connection with the incident.
Police said the circumstances surrounding the collision remained under investigation.
Anjana, an engineering graduate, had been living in California with her husband and family for several years and was employed there.
Her family is originally from the Thrissur district. Relatives said she and her family had last visited Kerala in 2023.
Ann found stabbed in San Jose
Around the same period, police in San Jose responded to another disturbing incident.
Ann Mary Mathew was found inside a residence on Linda Vista Street with a stab wound. Despite efforts to save her, she died from her injuries.
San Jose police classified the death as a homicide and said the victim and suspect were known to each other.
Investigators are now examining the circumstances surrounding Ann's death and whether it is connected to the fatal incident involving Anjana in Milpitas.
The arrest of Anila, who was reportedly a close friend of both women, has deepened the shock among the Malayali community in California and the women's families back home in Kerala.
Families struggle to understand motive
Relatives said there had been no known serious dispute among the three friends before the incidents.
Rajagopal, a relative of Anjana, said the families were waiting for investigators to establish what had happened.
“We simply cannot understand what could have motivated something like this. Anjana, Ann and Anila were close friends. We heard that they celebrated Onam together and had recently gone for a movie. Even their husbands do not know what happened between them,” he said.
People who knew Anila in Kerala also expressed disbelief over her alleged involvement.
Relatives and acquaintances described her as generally calm and someone who maintained cordial relations with others. She had completed her engineering studies in Bengaluru before moving abroad with her family.
Some family acquaintances have suggested that Anila had recently been facing difficulties related to work. However, investigators have not publicly established whether those issues had any connection to the deaths.
Police have also not publicly established a motive, and the allegations against Anila have yet to be tested in court.
Families in Kerala devastated
The deaths have sent shockwaves through the victims' hometowns in Kerala.
Ann had been living in the United States with her husband and children. Family acquaintances said the couple had recently moved into a new home after previously living at the Mill Creek apartment complex.
Ann had also visited Kerala recently before returning to the United States.
Her family and friends remembered her as a caring person who maintained close relationships with relatives and members of the Malayali community abroad.
Anjana had similarly established her life in California with her husband and family after moving to the United States several years ago.
For the families, what makes the deaths particularly difficult to comprehend is the close bond the three women were believed to have shared until shortly before the tragedy.
Only days earlier, they had celebrated Onam together, smiling for photographs in traditional Kerala attire. Now, two are dead and the third is in police custody.
Efforts underway to bring bodies to Kerala
Meanwhile, efforts are underway to repatriate the bodies of Anjana and Ann to Kerala after the completion of the required post-mortem examinations and legal formalities in California.
The victims' families are receiving assistance from members of the Malayali community in the United States, while Indian consular officials have also been approached regarding the documentation required to bring the bodies home.
For the families in Kerala and California, the biggest unanswered question remains what happened between three women who, until days earlier, appeared to be inseparable friends.
Police in Milpitas and San Jose are continuing their investigations, and authorities have yet to publicly establish a motive or disclose the complete sequence of events that led to the two deaths.
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