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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BJP has history of ‘contradictory alliances’, says BK Hariprasad
Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
