The police in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati district on Tuesday arrested a 30-year-old software engineer, who killed his wife, stashed her body in a suitcase and dumped it in a lake on the outskirts of the temple town nearly five months ago, officials said.
The Tirupati (urban) police recovered the body of the victim – Padma (around 24) from the lake at Venkatapuram. “We have booked a case of murder against her husband Venugopal, working as a software engineer in Hyderabad, and sent him to 14-day judicial remand,” T Murali Krishna, deputy superintendent of police, Tirupati (East), told reporters.
He said Venugopal, who hailed from Venkatapuram Colony in Tirupati, was married to Padma on April 17, 2019 and both of them had stayed in Chennai where he was working for an IT firm.
“However, differences cropped up between the two within a few months and Padma returned to her parents’ home in Tirupati. She filed a complaint with the women’s police station against her husband and also the Women’s Commission alleging that he was harassing her for more dowry. At the same time, Venugopal filed a case in the court seeking divorce from her,” the police official said.
The police called Venugopal and Padma and counselled them. “Though they entered into a compromise and lived together for a few months, differences surfaced again and she returned to her parents’ house again, while Venugopal left to Hyderabad on finding a new job,” Murali Krishna said.
{{/usCountry}}The police called Venugopal and Padma and counselled them. “Though they entered into a compromise and lived together for a few months, differences surfaced again and she returned to her parents’ house again, while Venugopal left to Hyderabad on finding a new job,” Murali Krishna said.
{{/usCountry}}On January 5 this year, Venugopal went to his in-laws’ place and requested Padma to come back to him. He assured that he would not trouble her anymore and would look after her well.
“Apparently believing his words, Padma went to his house in Tirupati. On the same evening, he beat her indiscriminately with a stick, resulting in her death. Venugopal’s parents and another family friend were also said to be present there when he killed her,” the police official said.
Later, he stuffed her body in a suitcase, carried it to the lake and dumped it in waters, before leaving Tirupati for Hyderabad along with her parents. “Using Padma’s mobile phone, Venugopal himself used to chat with her parents, making them believe that all is well with her. He, too, used to tell his in-laws that Padma is there with him in Hyderabad,” the DSP said.
However, the parents of Padma got suspicious when she did not talking to them over phone for more than four months. They lodged a missing complaint with the Tirupati police two days ago.
“We went to Hyderabad and brought him to Tirupati for questioning, During the interrogation, Venugopal confessed to killing Padma. He took us to the lake where he dumped her body,” the official said, adding that the parents of Venugopal are absconding and a manhunt was launched for them.