Meerpet woman’s murder: Husband arrested after confessing to killing, disposing of body

Hyderabad: The recent case of the missing woman from Meerpet that gained national attention due to reports on the brutal nature of her death has had a breakthrough.

The husband Putta Gurumurthi was arrested on Tuesday allegedly based on his confession that he murdered his wife and tried to get rid of the body through various inhuman means such as cutting the body and grinding the bones.

The sleuths of Meerpet Police, LB Nagar Zone, Rachakonda Commissionerate, said they are now treating the missing case as a murder case followed by the husband’s arrest.

Madhavi left home after fight with husband

According to police records, the victim is Putta Venkata Madhavi (35) who used to stay at New Venkateshwara Colony, Jillelaguda, Ranga Reddy District. She was a native of Prakasham District in Andhra Pradesh. Putta Gurumurthi (39) was also from Prakasham and is a former serviceman in the Army.

The case came to light on January 18 when Madhavi’s mother Kuppala Subbamma filed a complaint with the police that her daughter had gone missing. Madhavi was the eldest of her three daughters. She told the police that on January 16 Madhavi and her husband had a quarrel, and upset about it, Madhavi left the house at 12 pm without informing anyone.

She said they searched the surrounding areas and inquired with relatives but could not find any clue about her whereabouts.

CCTV footage showed Madhavi entering her home

During the enquiry, upon verification of the CCTV footage, the police noticed that on January 15, at 10:41 pm, Putta Gurumurthi and Madhavi went inside their house. However, there was no evidence of her coming out. This indicated that she might have been murdered in the home.

When confronted with the evidence on Tuesday, Gurumurthi confessed that an argument with his wife on January 16 led to him killing his wife.

Gurumurthi told the police, on that day, he woke up from sleep and started an argument with his wife. He got angry and slapped her due to which she fell against the wall and collapsed. Immediately, he strangled her until she lost consciousness. Later, he realised she was no longer alive and decided to cover up the murder.

He explained in graphic detail how he tried to dispose of her body by chopping her up, boiling the limbs and crushing the bones with a stone roller. He tried to dispose of the bone fragments in the toilet and kept some in the household trash bin, intending to dispose of them later.

To minimise the foul smell while burning, he kept the doors and kitchen windows open. Afterwards, he cleaned the bathroom using detergent and phenyl to remove any traces of evidence. The police found proof of his attempt to dispose of the body by analysing samples from the bathroom.

The police seized all the materials he used to clear the evidence from his possession.