Andhra: Man kills wife, wheels her body in suitcase; arrested
What's the story
A few days ago, a man in Andhra Pradesh told his relatives that his wife had died of the coronavirus and subsequently been cremated by the hospital authorities. Police now says he killed her and dumped her body in a large suitcase before setting it on fire. Maramreddy Sreekanth Reddy, 30, has since been arrested on murder charges.
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On June 23, police found her body near a hospital
On June 23, the police in Tirupati found the body of the woman in a suitcase in bushes near Sri Venkata Ramana Ruia (SVRR) government hospital, reports say. "The body was 90 percent burnt," according to the local police. With help from forensic experts, cops identified the body as that of 27-year-old M Bhuvaneshwari, Reddy's deceased wife.
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Couple lived with their 1.5-year-old daughter
The couple had been living in Tirupati with their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Bhuvaneshwari used to work for an IT firm in Hyderabad and had been working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reddy, on the other hand, had reportedly lost his job and turned to alcohol. The couple often fought and Reddy likely killed his wife in a fit of rage, the police said.
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Reddy allegedly carried wife's body in a suitcase
In CCTV footage obtained from the residential complex, Reddy was seen bringing in a suitcase into his house. Later, he was seen struggling to wheel out the suitcase with one hand while holding his toddler daughter in the other. He took the body in a cab before dumping it. "He returned to the same spot in the evening to set her ablaze," police said.
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'Reddy bought a suitcase at Reliance Mart to pack body'
"Sreekanth (Reddy) bought a big suitcase at Reliance Mart and that is suspected to have been used for the purpose of packing the body. He later tried to burn the body," Ramesh Reddy, Tirupati Urban Police chief, said.
Other details
Reddy told family wife died of Delta Plus variant
Reddy had told his in-laws that Bhuvaneshwari had been infected with the Delta Plus variant of the coronavirus and succumbed to it, said police sources cited by India Today. He added her body was cremated by the hospital staff. He was arrested by a special team and brought back to Tirupati for questioning on Tuesday, reported The Times of India.