Elderly woman murdered for gain in Visakhapatnam by ward volunteer
The accused found the 72-year-old victim alone in her house and allegedly smothered her to death with a pillow.
Published: 31st July 2023 03:10 PM | Last Updated: 31st July 2023 06:29 PM | A+A A-
For representational purposes
VISAKHAPATNAM: In a murder for gain, an elderly woman was smothered to death here Sunday night and her gold ornaments were stolen, reportedly.
The accused is identified as Rayavarapu Venkatesh, who used to be a volunteer in the 95th ward in Purushothapuram in Pendurthi. He was recently removed from service.
The police said they received a complaint from K Giri Srinivas, a resident of Sri Laxmi Enclave in Sujathanagar of Pendurthi that his mother Varalakshmi (72) was murdered.
Srinivas was running a bamboo chicken business with the name `Pandu Bambo Chicken' at Purushothpuram BRTS Road, where the accused Venkatesh was working as a helper, temporarily.
The accused, who on Sunday night visited the house around 10 PM noticed that the victim was alone in the house. Taking advantage of this, he allegedly murdered by smothering her with a pillow and fled the scene with two-and-a-half tolas of gold.
The accused kept the stolen property in his house, reportedly.
Meanwhile, the complainant and his father who came to their house around 11.15 pm found Varalakshmi dead and her gold chain missing.
The police arrested the accused within no time with the help of the CCTV footage and recovered the stolen property from him.
The accused is a married man with no past crime history.
Pendurthi police have registered a case and are investigating further.
