Body-in-suitcase mystery cracked 5 months after Andhra man killed wife

Naveen S Garewal

Hyderabad, May 31

In a gruesome case of murder, a man killed his estranged wife, stuffed her body in a suitcase and dumped her in a lake in the temple town of Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. He then moved to Hyderabad and started working here.

The incident came to light today, while the incident had taken place five months ago. After not being in touch with their daughter, the parents of the victim, Padma, complained to the police about their daughter not responding to their calls or contacting them.

The police approached her husband, Venugopal, a software engineer, who, after sustained interrogation, confessed to the crime.

After committing the crime, Venugopal moved to Hyderabad. He told the police that he committed the crime on January 5 and dumped the suitcase with his wife’s body in the Venkatapuram lake on the outskirts of Tirupati.

Police have arrested Venugopal, who was so far misleading his in-laws, saying that the Padma was with him at Hyderabad. Since January, she did not contact her parents; Padma’s parents grew suspicious and lodged a police complaint.

Venugopal told the police that he killed his wife on the same day he brought her back from her parent’s house, where she lived for two years due to their marital differences.

The police have recovered the suitcase and sent the highly decomposed body for forensic examination and autopsy.

Meanwhile, in another case, a local court today sentenced a youth to 112 days imprisonment for creating nuisance in an inebriated condition and harassing women. B Akash alias Nikhil (22), from Chacha Nehru Nagar, was arrested by the Gandhinagar police on public nuisance and misbehaving with women.