KOLLAM: The Kollam Additional Sessions Court on Monday found Sooraj S Kumar guilty of having murdered his 25-year-old wife Uthra by making a cobra bite her at her house at Anchal last year. Judge M Manoj will pronounce the quantum of punishment on Wednesday.
When the court asked whether he has anything to say after pronouncing him guilty, he said “no”. The prosecution argued that the case belonged to the “rarest of the rare” category and sought death penalty for the accused. “This is a strange and cruel case. The verdict should carry a strong message to society,” said prosecutor G Mohanraj.
Sooraj, the only accused in the case, has been convicted under four sections of IPC — 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison etc, with intent to commit an offence) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of the offence).
Uthra died of snakebite at her house on May 7, 2020. It was alleged that Sooraj bought snakes — first a viper and then a cobra — to kill Uthra on two occasions. Sooraj’s brutal act came to light after Uthra’s parents met the then Kollam Rural SP Harisankar and raised their suspicion over her death. The SP ordered a probe and the investigators found the suspicion prima facie true, leading to the arrest of Sooraj.
As per the chargesheet, Sooraj had tried to kill Uthra twice by making poisonous snakes bite her. Also, there was an intervention to destroy the evidence on both occasions. The murder was committed with the intention of extorting money. On both occasions, Sooraj bought snakes from his acquaintance Suresh of Kalluvathukkal, a snake catcher who later turned an approver in the case.
Relieved by verdict, says Uthra’s father
The prosecution produced 87 witnesses, 286 pieces of documentary evidence and 40 other evidence during the trial.
On Monday, a huge crowd gathered on the court premises to hear the verdict. Uthra’s father Vijayasenan and brother Vishu were also present at the court. Sooraj was brought to court at 12.10 pm under tight security.
Reacting to the verdict, Vijayasenan said he is relieved and satisfied with the court proceedings so far. Sooraj’s family members remained confined to their house without allowing visitors on the day of verdict. None of them were willing to react either.