Kerala man bought snakes to kill wife, police reveal after woman dies of cobra bite

A woman died in Kerala after she was bitten by a cobra. The incident took place in Kollam district and the police arrested the husband on Sunday for allegedly hatching the conspiracy to murder her. [caption id=“attachment_6899781” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. ANI[/caption] Sooraj (27), a native of Adoor, planned to kill his wife Uthra (25) to pocket her gold and marry another person, reported The Indian Express. The husband tried to portray the whole incident as an accidental death. The woman was first bitten by a viper on 2 March at her husband’s home and then again by a cobra within a week. She was recuperating from the first snake bite when the second incident took place. According to The Hindu, Uthra’s parents grew suspicious after she died of snakebite on 7 May at their residence as on both the occasions Sooraj was present. He had also withdrawn Uthra’s gold from the bank locker on 2 March. When she was bitten by a cobra for the second time, she was in a closed room with tiled floor. In their complaint to the police, her parents said that it was impossible for the snake to enter the room. They alleged that Sooraj had planted the snake inside. They also complained that he had been harassing their daughter for dowry. The police investigation into the case revealed shocking details. The man had roped in a snake handler to kill his wife. Sooraj’s call records divulged that he was in touch with a snake handler. The husband’s online activities also revealed that he had been watching videos on YouTube on the handling of snakes. Police claimed that he had been planning to kill Uthra for three months. Sooraj bought the cobra on 24 April and kept it at his house, after his first attempt at killing his wife failed. He purchased both the snakes for Rs 5,000 each. On 7 May, he went to Uthra’s house, hiding the cobra in a bottle. Police said he threw the snake at his wife when she was sleeping. In the morning, when Uthra’s parents found her lying unconscious, they rushed her to the hospital, but she died.