How Hyderabad techie kept the murder of his wife a secret for five months

Tirupati: Police arrested a techie from Tirupati five months after he allegedly killed his wife. In January, he along with her family members packed her body in a bag and dumped it in a lake near Venkatapuram.

Identified as Venugopal, he is a software employee in Hyderabad. He got married to Padmavathi (33) in 2019. A few months after their marriage, Venugopal and his parents, Panduranga Chary (RTC bus conductor) and Rani (mother) started harassing her for additional dowry. Despite the relatives trying to resolve the issue, Venugopal continued to harass her. He even filed for divorce. However, Padmavathi did not attend the court hearing. She also approached the Women's Commission for justice.

"When his wife did not agree, Venugopal and his family and his friend Santosh hatched a plan to kill her. On 5 January 2022, Venugopal went to the Padmavathi's parents' house and brought her home. On the same day, they hit her with a baton killing her on the spot ", said Tirupati east division DSP T Murali Krishna. Later they packed her body in a bag and dumped it near a lake.

How did the mystery reveal?

Soon after the murder, Venugopal's parents went on pilgrimage, and he shifted to Hyderabad. He made everyone believe that Padmavathi was him. In the last five months, whenever Padmavathi's parents tried to contact her, she wasn't available. Venugopal used to give excuses. "On May 18, Venugopal came to court in connection to his divorce case. Padmavathi's parents also attended. When they questioned him about his daughter's whereabouts, he did not answer", said DSP.

Her parents got suspicious and lodged a police complaint against Venugopal.

During questioning, Venugopal confessed to killing Padmavathi. Police recovered the body from the lake and arrested the three family members. Another accused, Santosh, is still absconding.