Hyderabad: Man murders wife, sets body on fire, absconds

Hyderabad: Following frequent disputes, a man allegedly killed his wife at their house in the Somangurthy village of Pudur mandal in Ranga Reddy district. The incident came to light when locals noticed a foul smell coming from the house and alerted the cops on Sunday.

The accused Shekhar, 40, a labourer, married the victim U. Sunitha, 28, about six years ago after his first wife died. The couple has a three-year-old daughter Ashwini. Chengamoul police said though the couple was happy initially, differences cropped up later between them and they used to have frequent fights over petty issues. Sunitha’s family alleged that Shekhar used to harass her mentally and physically and assault her. On Sunday morning, the villagers realised that a foul smell was emanating from the locked house and informed the village head who alerted the police.

“We rushed to the spot and broke open the lock of the main door. We found the victim’s body lying on the ground in a highly decomposed state. It was totally burnt,” said SI Mohd. Khaleel of Chevella. Police said Shekhar may have murdered her and set the body afire around eight days ago. She was in contact with her relatives till May 16.

Shekhar locked the house and went absconding. Their daughter too is missing. Based on a complaint, a case under Sections 302 for murder and 201 for causing disappearance of evidence was booked and is being investigated by Pargi CI P. Prasad. Officials said the accused was traced to the Bomraspet area late on Sunday and a team has gone to nab him.

A spot post-mortem examination was conducted on the body and it was handed over to the victim’s family.