The Kollam police had reportedly arrested a man named Sooraj and his accomplice Suresh for murdering his 25-year-old wife Uthra through snakebites on May 6 in Anchal, Kerala. As per the preliminary investigation, the accused killed his wife, owing to dowry and the desire to find another partner.
Reportedly, the victim was earlier bitten by a snake in March which made the family become suspicious about the cause of her death. The accused Sooraj had procured a viper snake from his accomplice, Suresh and had set the snake on his wife. Uthra was then hospitalised for a month. After that, she had stayed at her parent’s home in Anchal.
In the second murder attempt, Sooraj allegedly procured a cobra from Suresh and killed Uthra on May 6. He had allegedly taken the snake and left it on his sleeping wife’s body. Sooraj watched while the venomous cobra bit the victim twice. On the next morning, when Uthra was rushed to the hospital, her death was confirmed by the authorities.
Kerala: Police have arrested a man for getting his wife killed by a snakebite in Kollam. As per police, incident took place on May 6, when the husband with a pre-planned motive, brought a snake with him and threw it on his wife; he waited and watched the snake bite her twice. pic.twitter.com/YKxDVnBCLb
— ANI (@ANI) May 26, 2020
Allegations of foul play by victim’s family
Uthra’s family had reportedly filed a complaint, citing foul play, after a week from the incident. They said that the victim had gone to bed with her husband Sooraj and it was impossible that he did not see the snake. On examining the room, a cobra was discovered that was later killed by the husband.
The parents of the victim also informed the police that Uthra was harassed by her husband for dowry, during the two years of marriage. They alleged that the ornaments gifted as part of the dowry were also missing from the locker. The family also alleged that Sooraj was in contact with local snake handlers.
Police Investigation
According to the police, even though the accused had received money and gold as dowry, he was not satisfied. As such, Sooraj wanted to kill Uthra and remarry. The perpetrator worked at a private bank and had bought the snake from Suresh for ₹10,000. He had been planning to murder his wife for 5 months prior to the date of the incident.
The police also found digital evidence on the accused’s phone. He had been watching snake-related videos of the video streaming app, Youtube, to learn how to handle a snake. Superintendent of Police (Kollam) S Harishankar said, “It is a strange case. Three persons are in our custody. Since the investigation is on we can’t reveal details now.”
