Hyderabad: In yet another brutal murder, a 22-year-old pregnant woman was killed and dismembered by her husband in Hyderabad.
The woman is identified as Swathi, also known as Jyothi. She was a resident of a rented house in the Boduppal area of Medipally.
Pregnant body parts thrown in Musi River
Mahender Reddy, a driver with a ride-sharing app, who had a love marriage with Swati, 25, a call centre employee, only a year-and-a-half ago, killed her at their house in Boduppal on the evening of Saturday.
He used an axe blade to cut head, hands and legs. After placing the body parts in small plastic covers, he dumped them into the Musi River the same night.
To avoid any suspicion, the accused made three trips to the river to dispose of the body parts.
The couple had moved to the Boduppal neighborhood from the Vikarabad district just one month prior to the tragic event.
Couple had an intercaste marriage; Frequent fights
Hailing from Kamareddyguda in Vikarabad district, Mahender Reddy had an inter-caste love marriage with Swati. Two months after the marriage, differences cropped up between them, resulting in frequent quarrels.
After committing the gruesome crime on the evening of August 23, Mahender informed Swati’s sister, Chandrakala, over the phone that Swati had gone missing. Suspicious, she alerted her maternal uncle, Goverdhan Reddy, who resides in the Dilsukhnagar area.
When Goverdhan Reddy went to Mahender’s house, the latter told him that Swati had left the house and did not return.
Police registers against husband
They went to the Uppal police station late on Saturday night to lodge a missing complaint. Since the Balaji Hills area of Boduppal comes under the jurisdiction of the Medipally police station, the police personnel asked them to approach the police station concerned.
While registering the complaint, the officer at Medipally Police Station asked Mahender Reddy a few questions. The officer grew suspicious of his incoherent replies and thoroughly interrogated him. He confessed to the crime and revealed all the details.
DCP said they registered a case and arrested Mahender Reddy.
Hyderabad woman’s torso found so far
Forensic experts and the clues team gathered clues from Mahender Reddy’s house on Sunday. They found only the torso of the victim. The same was sent for the DNA test. Police were searching for body parts in the Musi River with the help of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).
Swati had previously filed a police complaint against her husband, alleging harassment and cruelty. There was reconciliation between them in the presence of elders following counselling by the police.
(With inputs from agencies)
