Kerala court finds husband guilty of killing wife by getting her bitten by snake in 2020
Kollam (Kerala): A Kerala court on Monday convicted a husband for killing his wife by getting her bitten by a venomous snake with an intention to kill her.
The Kollam Additional District and Sessions Court, presided by Justice Manoj M, pronounced its verdict in a one-of-its-kind murder case where the husband threw a starving cobra on his wife while she was asleep to induce her death by snakebite.
The one of its kind murder case was reported on 7th May 2020 when the victim Uthra (25) was found dead at her home from a snakebite. Her family suspected foul play in her death and alleged that Uthra was being repeatedly subjected to harassment from her husband and his family for dowry.
They had further argued that the snake could not have found its way into a closed air-conditioned room, especially when the floor is tiled.
During the course of investigations it was revealed that less than nine weeks before her death, Uthra sustained another near-fatal attack from a viper snake. She was reportedly recovering from the same when she died of another snakebite.
After a thorough investigation into the matter, a 1000 paged chargesheet was filed by the police unearthing the elaborate conspiracy planned and implemented by her husband Sooraj Kumar.
The accused was consequently arrested with another man who helped him procure both the snakes. The handler later turned approver and disclosed that both the snakes were sold for Rs. 10,000 together and that he did not know the purpose behind the purchase.
The accused thereafter confessed to his crime during interrogation and admitted that he had stored two snakes in a jar without feeding them with the intention of killing his wife.
Later on, his father, mother, and sister were also arrested after recovering around 38 sovereigns of Uthra's gold that was found buried in a rubber estate behind their residence.
The prosecution led by Advocate Mohanraj presented strong scientific and circumstantial evidence in the court to support their case and a subsequent postmortem of the snake was also conducted to affirm that t was the one that had attached Uthra.
A renowned snake handler after examining the fang width had thereby testified before the Court that the snakebite found on the deceased's body did not seem natural, and was probably induced.
The scientific evidence submitted before the court was collected with the help of a team comprising herpetologists, forensic experts, veterinary surgeons, and officials from the Forest and Animal Husbandry departments.
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First set of citizenship certificates issued under CAA, 14 people granted Indian nationality
New Delhi (PTI): The first set of citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was issued Wednesday here to 14 people, starting the process of granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslims migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over the certificates to the 14 people after their applications were processed online through a designated portal, an official spokesperson said.
The CAA was enacted in December 2019 for granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians.
After the enactment, the CAA got the president's assent but the rules under which the Indian citizenship was granted were issued only on March 11 this year after over four years delay.
