In a horrific crime deemed "diabolical" by a judge and the media in India, a man killed his partner in four attempts, the last involving him holding a cobra and placing it on her hand to ensure her certain death. An Indian court in Kerala sentenced the man to life in prison after finding him guilty of murdering his wife using a cobra, exploiting the phenomenon of snakebite deaths in his country, according to CNN.
The details of the case trace back to the beginning of the victim’s relationship with the criminal husband. A father, concerned about the future of his daughter who had learning difficulties, sought a man who would take care of her and be a husband and father to her children. He found a 25-year-old man named Suresh Kumar through a marriage agency.
According to court documents, Kumar agreed to marry the girl, Ethira, in 2018 for "material reasons," as her father offered a dowry including a car valued at 500,000 rupees (about $6,700) as well as around 750 grams of gold. The father also paid Kumar about $107 monthly to care for his daughter, and covered the college expenses of her sister.
After the couple had their child, signs of Kumar’s annoyance and boredom with his wife began to show as he viewed her as foolish and naive, leading him to plot her murder. CNN reported that the accused, after watching videos about snakes on YouTube, got involved with a snake charmer and bought a snake for $135 under the pretense of being a snake enthusiast. He left the snake on his doorstep and asked Ethira to get something, hoping she would receive a fatal bite, but this attempt failed when Ethira spotted the snake, screamed for help, and fled.
Kumar then decided to buy a cobra for its higher toxicity. However, when he hid it in bed while Ethira was sleeping, she sensed a disturbance and was able to escape once again. He subsequently concealed his "weapon" in a plastic bag, waiting for another opportunity.
In the third attempt, before carrying out his plan, Kumar drugged Ethira's food so that she would fall asleep and be bitten by the snake. She awoke screaming in pain and, after some delay, Kumar took her to the hospital, claiming she had been bitten while washing clothes outside. Ethira refuted her husband’s account, stating she had not washed clothes that day.
Ethira remained in the hospital for 52 days to recover, leaving nearly paralyzed. However, the accused decided to repeat his actions, grabbing a cobra's head and placing it on his wife's left arm while she slept at her parents' home to ensure enough venom entered her system to kill her, which ultimately happened.
The killer husband nearly escaped conviction until doubts arose within the victim's family, prompting them to file a police complaint. Investigations revealed that Ethira had indeed been murdered, as the size of the snakebite was larger than normal, indicating that someone had been holding the snake.
During the trial, the prosecution presented a team of experts who demonstrated that it is impossible for a cobra to bite a sleeping person who has not provoked it. Moreover, the crime occurred at night when such reptiles are known to be asleep before 8 PM.
In his ruling, the judge described the crime as "diabolical and horrific," while the prosecution highlighted the remarkable efforts that uncovered the crime, noting that India recorded 1.2 million snakebite deaths between 2000 and 2019, with 99.9% classified as "accidental."
