A woman is accused of conspiring with her lover to murder her husband after a temple visit in Chittoor district, as the community in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Tamil Nadu is rocked by the shocking crime. Four suspects, including the wife of the deceased man and her alleged lover, have been arrested for the murder.
The victim was identified as Ramesh, a resident of Sulagiri, a small town in Tamil Nadu. Ramesh works for a private company in Hosur and was married to Hasini, a native of Boyinapalli village in Andhra Pradesh's Shantipuram mandal. The two had been married for around two years and were parents of a one-year-old daughter.
Even after her marriage, Hasini had a relationship with her childhood friend Yugandhar, investigators say. Police believe the relationship resulted in a conspiracy to murder Ramesh, whom they saw as a hindrance to the affair.
Hasini recently visited her parental home and is believed to have planned the crime with Yugandhar. In the course of her alleged plot, she persuaded her husband to accompany her to Malleshwara Swamy Temple on Mallappa Hill in Gudipalle Mandal of Chittoor district. Their one-year-old daughter also accompanied them on the trip.
Hasini, who was on a motorcycle during the attack, remained in contact with Yugandhar through phone calls and kept track of their location at regular intervals, police say. The investigators believe these communications were used to coordinate the movements of the accused and plan for the attack.
The alleged killing took place when the family was ascending the hill road leading to the temple. Hasini intentionally dropped her purse at a bend on the route, investigators said. When Ramesh stopped the motorcycle and stepped away to retrieve the purse, a group of men waiting nearby seized the opportunity to attack him.
The police say Yugandhar and several accomplices dragged Ramesh to a forested area. There, he was murdered before his body was left in the woods. Hasini fled the location with her daughter and travelled with Yugandhar before attempting to get away.
The case took a dramatic turn when Hasini’s mother approached the Rallabuduguru Police Station after she was unable to contact her daughter and granddaughter. Police investigated the complaint based on CCTV footage from the roads leading to the temple, the report said.
According to officials, the footage showed Hasini going to the temple with Ramesh on a motorcycle. Later recordings showed her returning on the same motorcycle with others, raising suspicion among investigators. CCTV evidence, mobile phone records and location data helped police to reconstruct the sequence of events.
The police used technical evidence in terms of phone records and mobile tower data to track the suspects and finally recovered Ramesh's body from the forest area. Hasini, Yugandhar, and other suspects were detained for questioning in the presence of police.
The investigation is still in progress, and the exact sequence of events and the role of each accused person are being established, police sources said. A case has been registered under the relevant sections relating to murder, and further legal proceedings will be taken into account.
Public outrage is widespread because the allegations are so serious and because the crime was allegedly committed in front of the couple’s young child. Most of the people are shocked by the incident, and law enforcement is continuing its investigation to be fair and unbiased.
