The police on Sunday arrested a man for allegedly murdering his wife and trying to pass it off as accidental snakebite death, and an accomplice who helped him in procuring snakes, here in Kerala.
One of the accused, Sooraj, was married to Uthra, 25, for two years. They have a one-year-old son.
The woman’s parents alleged foul play after she died of snakebite on May 7 at her parents’ home at Anchal in Kollam district, where she was recuperating from an earlier snakebite. She was first bitten by a snake on March 2 at her husband’s home and was under treatment when another snake took her life. She was first bitten by a viper and then a cobra, and her husband Sooraj was present on both occasions.
Following her death, Uthra’s parents filed a case with the District Police Chief (Kollam Rural). They said it was impossible for the snake to enter a closed, air-conditioned room with tiled floor and that Sooraj had planted the snake inside when his first attempt failed. Sooraj had reportedly removed Uthra’s gold from the bank locker on March 2, the day she was first bitten by a snake.
Her parents also alleged that Uthra had been facing dowry harassment and that she was murdered for her gold and property.
The police said Sooraj had confessed after a long questioning session and admitted that he brought the snake in a bottle and threw it over Uthra while she was asleep. According to the police, Sooraj procured the poisonous snakes from Suresh, a handler, paying ₹5,000 for each snake. “Sooraj had been plotting the murder for three months and his web history shows a lot of data related to snakes,” said Hari Sankar, District Police Chief (Kollam Rural).
