Name: Uthra (alternate spelling Uttara).
Died: May 7, 2020.
Age at death: 25.
Cause of death: Snakebite.
Location: Anchal, Kollam, Kerala, India.
Disability: Intellectual disability.
Details:
Uthra’s husband, having married her for the dowry, decided to kill her. He bought a viper from a snake catcher and induced it to bite his wife. She survived the bite, though she had to spend 52 days in bed and get plastic surgery. Not long after she returned from the hospital, Uthra’s husband bought a second snake, this time a cobra. He gave her sedatives to make her sleepy, and while she was asleep, he made the snake bite Uthra, who died the next day. Police say Uthra’s in-laws were involved in planning the attacks and covering up for Uthra’s husband.
Uthra was the mother of a one-year-old son.
Case Status:
Sooraj S. Kumar (Husband), convicted of murder, sentenced to life plus 17 years.
Renuka and Surya (Sooraj’s mother and sister), charged with conspiracy, domestic violence, and destruction of evidence.
Surendran Panicker (Father-in-law), charged with destroying evidence.
Chavarukavu Suresh Kumar (Snake catcher), unspecified charges, serving as witness.
Sources:
Uthra Case : 27 Circumstances Which Proved Murder Using Live Cobra
Man who used a cobra to murder his wife is jailed for life
Uttara Snakebite Murder: Suraj Gets 17 Years Plus Two Life Terms
Snake-bite Murder : Court Finds Suraj Guilty Of Killing Wife Uttara; Quantum Sentencing on Wednesday
Kerala snakebite murder
‘He killed his wife because I gave the cobra’: Snake-catcher breaks down in Kerala court
Uthra’s relatives depose in snakebite murder case