An Indian man was convicted of murdering his wife by starving a cobra and forcing it to bite her while she slept, a crime driven by greed for her dowry and life insurance payout. Sooraj Kumar, 27, a bank employee, received two life sentences in August 2021 for the murder of Uthra, his wife of two years.
The murder plot
Uthra, a stay-at-home mum with a disability, was attacked by a cobra on May 6, 2020, at her home in Adoor, India. She died in agony the following day. The attack came just 52 days after she had been bitten by a Russell's viper in March 2020, an incident that had left her bedridden and required plastic surgery.
Her mother discovered her unconscious after the second attack, and the cobra was found and killed when the room was searched. Suspicion arose when her husband, who typically slept late, had risen early and gone outside before his wife was found.
Investigation and confession
A week after Uthra's death, her father, Vijayasenan, contacted the police, concluding it would have been virtually impossible for the cobra to enter the room and attack his daughter without either she or her husband noticing. Uthra had also confided in her parents that Sooraj was highly skilled at handling venomous snakes.
Renowned snake specialist Vava Suresh urged the parents to alert authorities, noting that the first snake bite would have been near impossible since a Russell's viper would be unlikely to reach the second floor of the house.
Sooraj was arrested, along with snake catcher Chavarukavu Suresh. In July 2020, Sooraj confessed to purchasing two snakes for £100 each, administering sleeping tablets to Uthra to sedate her, and confining the cobra in a bottle without food from April 24 to May 6 to ensure it would strike.
Additional arrests and conviction
During the investigation, police discovered that Uthra's bank locker had been removed on the date of the first snake attack. Her father-in-law, Surendran Panicker, was arrested on suspicion of destroying evidence and concealing 38 pieces of gold jewellery, which police found hidden in a nearby rubber plantation. The majority of her dowry remains unaccounted for.
In August 2020, Sooraj's mother, Renuka, and sister, Surya, were taken into custody on suspicion of conspiracy, domestic violence, and destruction of evidence. The snake catcher, initially a suspect, proved pivotal in securing the 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. A film, Rajakumari, was released in 2025 depicting the story of Uthra's murder.
