Sooraj, who murdered his wife Uthara by getting her bitten by a cobra was found guilty by the Kollam District Additional Sessions Judge M Manoj on Monday. The judge declared that the prosecution has proved beyond any doubt that Sooraj was guilty of murdering his wife Uthara under Sections 302, 307, 328 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code.
The judge said it was the rarest of the rare cases as Sooraj’s earlier attempt to murder his wife by making her bitten by a viper ended in fiasco. “Even as his wife was being treated for snake bite in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital, Soraj was busy planning his next operation with another snake,” said the judge. When the judge asked Sooraj whether he has something to tell, the murdered said no and remained impassive. While the prosecution asked the judge to give the severest of the punishment, the defence lawyer claimed that Sooraj was innocent.
The punishment would be pronounced on Wednesday.
The murder which shook the conscience of Kerala took place on May 7, 2020, Uthara, a homemaker was found dead in the bedroom of her husband’s house.
Sooraj and his parents claimed that it was a natural snakebite. But Uthara’s parents smelled foul play in the death as that was the second time in as many months that she was bitten by a poisonous snake.
The skepticism arose from the fact that the deceased has been repeatedly subjected to harassment from her husband and his family for dowry. They argued that it was impossible for a snake to find its way into a closed air-conditioned room, particularly since the floor was tiled.
What followed was a scientific investigation which led the police team to Kalluvathukkal Suresh , a snake charmer who allegedly provided Sooraj with the snakes. Suresh turned approver in the case and he spilled the beans which unraveled the script of a macabre plot
Uthara was a physically challenged girl from a reasonably rich family and her parents paid hefty dowry in the form of gold, a brand new car and properties worth crores. Sooraj wanted to dump the young wife in the hope of usurping all the properties but he was aghast when he found that he would not get anything from Uthara’s property if she died a natural death. Hence the decision to bump of the girl.