VISHAKHAPATNAM: A 21-year-old woman, reported missing since September 10, 2021, was found murdered. Annavaram police in ASR district cracked the murder case and arrested a couple.
The arrested were Korabu Lakshmi (20), a native Chittamputtu under G Madugula mandal and her boyfriend Vandalam Gopal (21), a native of Sampangiputtu in Chintapalle mandal.
The victim was Chedala Kanthamma, a native of Sampangiputtu.
The Annavaram police said that as per the investigations, Kanthamma’s marriage had been fixed with Gopal, who was already in love with another woman, Lakshmi. However, Lakshmi threatened Gopal that she would end her life if he married Kanthamma.
Gopal and Lakshmi decided to eliminate Kanthamma and continue with their love affair. They hatched a plan to kill Kanthamma during the Ganesh festival.
On September 10, 2021, Lakshmi invited Kanthamma for the Ganesh festival. Kanthamma accompanied Lakshmi to her home at Chittamputtu. There, Lakshmi and Gopal murdered Kanthamma by allegedly strangling her. Later, they buried the body near Lakshmi’s house, police investigations showed.
Suspecting that they would get caught, the two fled the area and started life in a village in East Godavari district, working for an aqua food processing plant. However, based on some clues, the police visited East Godavari and arrested the two. The police exhumed the decomposed body and sent it for autopsy.
