Wife died agonising death after husband starved cobra and forced it to bite her | World | News

A depraved husband murdered his wife in a truly shocking manner – by starving a lethal cobra and forcing it to attack her while she slept.

Bank employee Sooraj Kumar, 27, had been married to Uthra for two years when he devised his sinister plot to kill his wife so he could become the sole beneficiary of her dowry in gold and claim her life insurance payout, which he had arranged just a few months before her death.

Uthra was a stay-at-home mum with a disability. When she suffered the fatal snake bite, she was still recuperating from a previous snake attack just months earlier, which had already aroused suspicions amongst her loved ones.

In March 2020, Uthra had been bitten by a Russell’s viper at her home in Adoor, India, leaving her bedridden. She had returned to her parents’ home to convalesce and had undergone plastic surgery to repair the damage inflicted by the deadly snake.

Just 52 days after the first attack, her mother discovered her unconscious, and it quickly became clear she had been bitten by yet another snake, this time a cobra, on May 6, 2020. Uthra died in agony the following day, reports the Daily Star.

It was only when the room was searched that the cobra was discovered and killed. Disturbingly, her husband Sooraj, who typically slept in late, had risen early and ventured outside before his wife was found.

It was only a week after Uthra’s tragic death that her family began to harbour suspicions that it was something far more sinister than a terrible accident, prompting her father, Vijayasenan, to contact the police. He concluded it would have been virtually impossible for the cobra to have entered the room and attacked his daughter without either she or her husband noticing.

Uthra had also previously confided in her parents that Sooraj was highly skilled at handling venomous snakes. The family had also sought the expertise of renowned snake specialist Vava Suresh, who ultimately urged the victim’s parents to alert the authorities.

He maintained that the first snake bite would have been near impossible to achieve, given how unlikely it would be for a Russell’s viper to reach the second floor of the house where Uthra was attacked.

Sooraj was subsequently arrested, along with snake catcher Chavarukavu Suresh, before a major breakthrough emerged. In July 2020, Sooraj made a startling confession, admitting he had purchased two snakes for £100 apiece.

He further confessed to administering sleeping tablets to Uthra in order to sedate her before unleashing his lethal murder weapon.

To guarantee the cobra would strike his wife, Sooraj also admitted to confining the snake inside a bottle without food between April 24 and May 6. Sooraj was arrested on charges of murder, attempted murder, attempted permanent injury and destruction of evidence.

While officers were investigating Uthra’s tragic death, they also uncovered that her bank locker had been removed on the date of the first snake attack. Her father-in-law, Surendran Panicker, was likewise arrested on suspicion of destroying evidence and concealing 38 pieces of gold jewellery, which police discovered hidden in a nearby rubber plantation.

The majority of her dowry remains unaccounted for.

Subsequently, in August of the same year, Sooraj’s mother, Renuka, and sister, Surya, were taken into custody on suspicion of conspiracy, domestic violence and destruction of evidence.

The snake catcher, while initially among the suspects, proved pivotal in securing a conviction.

In August 2021, Sooraj was convicted of using the cobra to kill Uthra, marking the first occasion a live animal had been deployed as a murder weapon resulting in a successful prosecution.

He received two life sentences, and a film, Rajakumari, was released in 2025 depicting the harrowing story of Uthra’s murder.