Representative image of an arrest.
Credit: iStock Photo
Hyderabad: In a shocking incident, a woman, with the help of her lover and his friend, allegedly murdered her husband ten days ago to continue her extramarital affair.
The three accused were arrested by Medipally police in Hyderabad on Monday and produced before a local court on Tuesday.
According to the police, the trio meticulously planned the murder, executed it by strangling the victim to death, and then attempted to mislead both relatives and police by claiming that he had died of a heart attack. However, a thorough investigation exposed the crime.
The victim was identified as V J Ashok, 45, and the main accused as his wife J Poornima, 36, both natives of Bengaluru in Karnataka.
Married in 2011, the couple had a 12-year-old son and were residing in East Brindavan Colony, Boduppal.
Ashok worked as a logistics manager at an engineering college in Yamnampet, while Poornima ran a playschool from home.
Police said Poornima developed an extramarital relationship with Mahesh, a construction worker from Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh.
Despite repeated warnings from her husband, she allegedly continued the affair, leading to frequent quarrels between the couple.
Determined to get rid of her husband, Poornima conspired with Mahesh to kill him. Mahesh roped in his friend Bhukya Sai Kumar, 22, from Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district to assist in the crime.
On the evening of December 11 when Ashok returned home from work, Mahesh and Sai Kumar attacked him and knocked him to the ground.
Poornima and Sai held him tightly while Mahesh strangled him with three scarves until he stopped breathing, according to police.
After ensuring that he was dead, Mahesh and Sai fled the scene, leaving Poornima to stage the cover-up.
Later, Poornima changed Ashok’s clothes and told relatives that he had died of a cardiac arrest.
She also repeated the same version to the police, claiming that her husband had collapsed in the bathroom while she was away and that he was declared dead at Malkajgiri Government Hospital due to a supposed heart attack.
However, Medipally SHO, R Govinda Reddy, said that the autopsy report revealed injuries on Ashok’s cheek and neck, raising suspicion.
Police registered a case of suspicious death and examined CCTV footage from the vicinity, which showed Mahesh and Sai Kumar entering the couple’s house on the night of the incident.
Upon interrogation, both men confessed to the murder, admitting to their roles in the crime. Poornima, Mahesh, and Sai Kumar were subsequently arrested and remanded to judicial custody, police said.