A 27-year-old man allegedly killed his pregnant wife in Hyderabad, cutting her body into pieces at their home in Telangana’s Medipally, in the Hyderabad metropolitan area, on Saturday.
Police said the man, who works as a cab driver with a ride-hailing company, “strangled and smothered” his wife. He used a blade to sever her head, hands, and legs, and disposed of some of the body parts in the Musi river, an officer said.
He packed the body parts separately in small plastic bags and went to the river three times to throw those away, police. Efforts were on to find the parts.
The husband retained the headless and legless torso of the woman in his room, DCP (Malkajgiri zone) PV Padmaja told reporters. The dismembered body has been sent for a post-mortem, and a DNA test will be conducted to further the investigation, she said.
The murder took place at around 4.30 pm on Saturday. The victim, identified as Swathi alias Jyothi, lived with the accused, her husband Mahender Reddy, in Medipally for the past few months, PTI reported.
Police said they had received a complaint from the Uppal police station stating that a man had come to report that his wife had gone missing.
“The case was referred to Medipalli. During questioning, he confessed to the brutal killing of his wife the previous day,” DCP Padmaja Reddy told PTI. Evidence was collected after the crime scene was secured, and the accused has been sent for judicial remand, the officer added.
Some reports suggested that the accused had confessed to a relative who informed the police, while other said he called up his sister to say that his wife was missing. The sister grew suspicious and informed a relative, who then took the accused to the police station, PTI reported.
Victim had registered a case of domestic violence against her husband in 2024
The victim had registered a case of domestic violence against her husband in April, 2024 in Vikarabad. However, the village elders mediated to hold conciliatory talks between the couple, following which they arrived at a compromise.
The couple, who were both natives of the Vikarabad district and were neighbours, had a love affair before their marriage was arranged in January 2024. Following their marriage, they moved into a rented place in Hyderabad’s Boduppal.
However, frequent quarrels arose between the two after about a month. The husband doubted Swathi’s character and stopped her from continuing her job at a call centre.
The victim, who conceived in March earlier this year, told her husband on August 22 that she would go back home to Vikarabad for a check-up and stay there. However, this led to a fight between the couple, following which the husband decided to kill the woman.
