An Indian man in the south-western Indian state of Kerala has been convicted for killing his wife by making a cobra bite her.
Sooraj Kumar was given a rare double life sentence for murdering his wife, Uthra, by releasing a cobra onto her bed while she slept.
Uthra’s family alleged she had been murdered after Kumar had been harassing her family for dowry. Her family had become suspicious because Uthra had been bitten by a Russell’s viper a few weeks earlier. She was recovering from the first snake bite when she was bitten by the cobra.
The man who provided Kumar with both snakes turned state’s witness and helped the police to put the case together.
The charges against Kumar ran to 1 000 pages, detailing the elaborate conspiracy planned and implemented by him.
The prosecution argued that it was the ‘rarest of rare cases’ and demanded the death penalty. The judge, although he agreed with the prosecution on the rarity of the case, convicted Kumar of a double life sentence and a fine of 500,000 rupees (about R100 000).