Pati, Patni Aur Cobra: How Kerala Cops Unravelled A Meticulously Planned Murder With Snakes On Hire

Most Shocking Crimes: Twenty-eight-year-old Sooraj S Kumar was handed out double life terms by a Kerala court for the May 2020 diabolic murder of his wife Uthra, using snakes on hire.

Uthra married Sooraj in 2018, and their child was 18 months old at the time of her death.

Source : File photo

Most Shocking Crimes: On May 7, 2020, a specially-abled, 25-year-old Uthra was found dead at her home in Kerala’s Kollam after being bitten by a snake in her sleep. This was the second time she was stung and that too at a time when she was recovering from the previous incident. Her parents suspected foul play in her death and filed a complaint with the police. What happened next was the unfolding of a macabre, demonic and meticulously planned murder, and the court case ended with the conviction of her husband, Sooraj S Kumar. 

At the time of her death, Uthra was mother to an 18-month-old child. Two months before her death, she had been bedridden after being bitten by a viper snake at her husband’s house and had to undergo plastic surgery.

Even though Sooraj kept denying all charges, he was asked over 700 questions during the trial which was mostly online due to the pandemic. As many as 87 witnesses were examined and live demonstrations were staged to establish that the snakebite was staged and not natural. 

Despite no direct evidence of murder, the Kerala Police cracked the murder after a detailed investigation by forensic, scientific and medical experts.

In its judgment, the court said: "This is a case of diabolic and ghastly uxoricide, committed stealthily, by inflicting induced Cobra bites causing fatal envenomation, with extreme wickedness, to disguise it as death due to accidental Cobra bite."

The court observed that Sooraj was dissatisfied with Uthra's mental and physical disabilities but married her with "the object of financial gain", and said that he "contrived a plot to get rid of her by causing her death in a manner without causing suspicion to her relatives so that he would continue to get financial assistance from the family of Uthra and he would be able to retain the gold ornaments, with which she was adorned and the cash gifted to her at the time of her marriage". 

ONCE BITTEN, TWICE KILLED

To execute this devilish murder, Sooraj first started searching about snakes on the internet and acquainted a snake handler who was also an accused in the case but later turned an approver.

As per the case records, his first attempt to kill Uthra was in February 2020 when he bought the Viper snake for Rs 10,000, and took it home in a plastic container before keeping it on the staircase in his house. He then sent Uthra upstairs to get his mobile phone, but she spotted the snake and raised the alarm. Unwilling to give up, Sooraj kept the snake in a sack. A few days later, he offered "payasam (rice pudding)" laced with sedatives to Uthra and when she fell asleep he let the snake onto her. After the reptile bit her, he threw the snake out to destroy evidence. Once Uthra woke up due to the pain, Sooraj deliberately delayed taking her to the hospital, in the hope that she would die. Finally, when he took her to hospital, she had to be admitted to the ICU. She underwent treatment for 52 days and had to undergo skin grafting in her leg.

When Uthra was recovering in her parental home, Sooraj purchased another cobra from the handler on April 24, 2020, for Rs 7,000. When he took it home this time, he kept it hungry on purpose. Around two weeks later, on May 6, he took the cobra in a plastic jar to Uthra's house, the judgment noted. Once again, he made her fall asleep, this time mixing sedatives in juice, and let the snake onto her. The court said Sooraj "caused it to bite on her left arm twice and ensured her death by envenomation". 

He stayed awake the entire night and destroyed evidence by washing the glass tumbler in which he gave the sedative-mixed juice to Uthra, and also destroyed the stick used by him to handle the snake besides deleting the call history in his mobile phone to remove any traces of calling up the snake handler.

UNFOLDING OF A DIABOLIC MURDER

The next morning, on May 7, 2020, Uthra's mother found her lying motionless in the case and alerted others. She was taken to hospital where she was declared dead. But since the death was not natural, the police started an inquiry. Later, the autopsy reports confirmed the death was caused due to cobra envenomation.

After this, Uthra's brother lodged an FIR with the police under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for unnatural death. The crime branch then took over the case.

The carcass of the snake was exhumed from the premises of the Uthra's residence in the presence of a veterinary surgeon and a forensic expert. On verifying the call detail records of Sooraj, it was revealed that he had made calls to Suresh who was a snake handler. They both were interrogated and arrested. Later, Suresh turned an approver in the case. The court was not convinced after hearing the prosecution and the defence, and found no ground to acquit Sooraj.

When the charges were framed, Sooraj pleaded not guilty and wanted to go on trial. He said Uthra's family members had filed a false case against him due to enmity regarding a property dispute and the custody of his child. He added that Uthra had variation in her blood pressure, and that the allegation that he had inflicted bites on Uthra using a snake was false because he was not familiar with handling snakes and was in fact afraid of snakes. 

EXPERTS DIG DEEPER

The exhumation process of the snake was conducted in the presence of the investigating officer, a veterinary surgeon, veterinary doctors, and photographers. Soil from the pit where the snake was buried was packed and sealed and handed over to the IO. 

Uthra's post-mortem showed two puncture wounds — 0.2x0.1x0.7 cm and 0.1x0.1x0.7 cm., 2.3 cm apart — on the back of her left forearm, 5.7 cm above wrist with infiltration of blood in the surrounding skin and soft tissue, noted the judgment, which is available online. The findings were consistent with death due to snake bite.

Moreover, the chemical analysis report revealed a non-therapeutic level of Cetirizine, which is otherwise a prescription drug. The cumulative effect of all these circumstances would make accidental snake bite improbable. 

CARCASS OF SNAKE EXAMINED

On necropsy, the 152-cm snake was found to be starved for a long time. An expert committee was then constituted to find the facts of the snake bites on Uthra as to whether the snake bites on the deceased were natural or they were induced. Dr K Sasikala was the chairperson of the committee. 

Dr Ragesh R, a medical officer in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Govt Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, who conducted the autopsy, said the wounds (bite marks) appeared to be unusual because of two successive bites, the two bites in close proximity, wider than usual bite marks, a significant difference between the fang width of both bite marks.

The committee met on two occasions and visited the places where the bite incidents occurred and came to the conclusion that the nature of the bite was not natural.  

EXPERT PANEL VISITS UTHRA'S HOUSE

The expert panel visited Uthra's parental house at Anchal. The premises were analysed to evaluate the possibility of the cobra entering the house. The cobra can raise only one-third of its height and the dead snake in this case had a length of 152 cm. Therefore, they said, it could raise only 50 cm from the ground to a vertical wall. The window of the room was at a height of 62 cm from the foundation. Therefore, they were convinced that the snake involved in this case could not enter the house through the said window. 

Due to the very minimal gap (2-4 mm) between the door and the ground, and it was impossible for the snakes to pass beneath the door. Moreover, Uthra’s room had the smell of kerosene and phenol which are snake repellants. The experts ruled out the possibility of the snake coming naturally into the Uthra's room.  

FANG WIDTH — CRUCIAL DETAIL THAT CRACKED THE CASE

On examination of the bite marks on Uthra's hand, the fang width was found to be varying at 2.3 and 2.8 cm. The experts stated a cobra with such a large fang width did not exist. The normal fang width of a cobra is 1 to 1.6 cm. And it was also stated that the activity time of cobras is between 5 pm and 8 pm, and after that, it usually remains inactive. When the fact that Uthra had sustained the fatal bite late at night was analysed, it became more convincing that it was not a natural snakebite case. 

The panel also examined the residence of the accused where Uthra sustained Russell's viper bite. Usually, Russell's viper dislike wet areas, and Sooraj's locality was not suitable for its habitat. A Russell's viper would not easily move through the wall and smooth surface of the tile to the staircase landing, the expert panel said.

It also said when a person is bitten by Russell's viper and cobra there would be excruciating pain. They also said it was not possible for a viper to climb upon a cot. Therefore, they became convinced that the bite sustained by Uthra from Russell's viper was also not natural. The expert committee expressed their opinion in its report.

LIVE DEMONSTRATIONS

A live demonstration with live snakes and a life-sized dummy was conducted at Arippa Forest Training Institute. The first demonstration was conducted by using a live cobra after recreating the scene of Uthra’s room. The time of the demonstration was after 8.30 pm. The dummy was laid down on a cot and a fresh broiler chicken piece was tied on its hand. Thereafter, a cobra was released from a container on top of the dummy. However, the cobra did not make any attempt to bite the dummy and crawled down to the ground. 

Usually, cobras bite only moving objects after displaying defensive mechanisms like hooding and hissing. Otherwise, the c is to be inflicted pain.

The team removed the arm of the dummy tied with the chicken piece and provoked the cobra. After several attempts and provocation, the cobra bit on the chicken piece tied to the arm of the dummy. Before inflicting the bite, the cobra displayed defensive mechanisms several times. Another natural bite on the provocation of the cobra was obtained in the chicken piece and the fang width of both bites was uniform at 1.7 cm. Thereafter, the cobra was caught by its head and two bites were induced on the chicken piece and the fang width was found to be varying in larger dimensions at 2 and 2.4 cm. 

The fang width of the induced bites was more than that of the natural bite. According to the panel, the skull of snakes is made up of movable joints and when pressure is applied the upper jaws where the fangs are found would expand. Therefore, in the case of an induced snakebite, the fang width would be larger than the natural bite fang width. When the snake was released, it crawled beneath a cupboard. 

Another scene was recreated for a live demonstration, using a dead rat tied to the leg of the dummy and a live Russell's viper. Since there was no thermal radiation, the Russell's viper did not bite the dead rat. Thereafter, a living rat was tied to the leg of the dummy and the snake was released on top of it. When the rat moved, the Russell's viper bit on it. The Russell's viper is nocturnal. 

The visuals of the live demonstration were produced by the prosecution and it was noted that the Russell's viper did not bite the dead rat but bit the rat that was alive. 

COURT STOPS SHORT OF GRANTING DEATH SENTENCE

The court stopped short of granting a death sentence stating: "No doubt, the murder is diabolic, ghastly, brutal and heinous. However, death sentence can be awarded only in rarest of the rare category, and in deciding that, the mitigating circumstances in favour of the accused also has to be considered." The court explained this decision saying Sooraj was 28-year-old and had no criminal record prior to this. "True, the offence was committed with unparalleled wickedness and in a ghastly manner. Without a person having criminal antecedents, it cannot be held that, if death sentence is not awarded, he would be a threat to the society."

Sooraj was sentenced to 17 years in prison, followed by two life sentences, and a fine of Rs 5,00,000 was imposed on him. The court said the sentences of imprisonment for life will commence after the term imprisonment was served and shall run concurrently.