Uthara Murder Case: Man kills wife with a Cobra, gets double life sentence and 17 years Prison
Uthra's mother Manimegalai says she is unhappy with the verdict. "He was to be awarded death penalty for the brutal act he committed. Will go for appeal in the higher court," she said.
The case dates back to May 7, 2020 when Uthra (25), mother of a one-year-old, was found dead due to a snakebite at her home in Anchal in Kollam district. The husband, Sooraj S Kumar has been convicted to have murdered his wife inducing a snake bite.
Considering the murder to be rarest of its kind, where a live animal was used for the murder, The Kollam Additional District and Sessions Court, presided by Additional Sessions Judge Manoj M, pronounced its judgment in first of its kind murder where the husband threw a starving cobra on his wife when she was asleep.
Advocate G. Mohanraj led the prosecution in the case and had urged for a death sentence to be given to the accused reasoning that it fulfilled the criteria of being the rarest of rare cases. He further asserted that such a sentence was in the public interest considering the gravity of the offence.
As of now, Kollam Additional Sessions Court on Wednesday awarded double life sentence besides 17 years of imprisonment to Sooraj, as he was found guilty under 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the IPC. The double life term for sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) will start only after he serves the 17 years. Apart from this, the court also imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh on the convict.
Even so, the prosecution had urged for a death penalty for the barbaric crime, his young age and no criminal history worked in his favour for making a reformation in the final judgement.
The Kerala Police has been applauded by the Special Public Prosecutor for their efforts in deciphering the murder which they did by recreating the entire crime scene with a dummy reptile. The scepticism arose against the suspect due to the fact that the deceased has been repeatedly subjected to harassment and mistreatment from her husband and his family for dowry.
