A woman and her friend who strangled her husband in his sleep and then released a snake on the bed to stage it as snakebite death were arrested in western Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district on Thursday, police said.
The deceased, Amit Kashyap alias Mikki, was found dead with multiple snakebites on his bed on Sunday morning. A live viper was recovered from the room.
“However, the autopsy report revealed that Amit had died of asphyxiation, not envenomation. This finding prompted a police investigation, which eventually led to the arrest of Ravita and her lover, Amardeep,” senior superintendent of police Meerut Vipin Tada said.
Tracing the possible sequence of events, superintendent of police (Rural) Rakesh Kumar Mishra said Amardeep allegedly purchased a viper for ₹1,000 from a snake charmer in Mahmoodpur Sikheda village. “On the night of the murder, the duo waited until Amit was asleep before strangling him to death. To mislead authorities and avoid suspicion, they placed the snake beneath his body, causing it to bite him multiple times posthumously,” Mishra said.
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{{/usCountry}}The police investigation revealed that Ravita and Amardeep had been in a relationship for a year. Amardeep, who worked as a labourer with Amit, frequently visited his home.
“Amit had recently become aware of his wife’s extramarital relationship and had started opposing it. This led the couple to plot his murder. To ensure they wouldn’t be caught, they even researched murder techniques on Google and YouTube,” a police officer said.