Man Feared Wife Performing Witchcraft, Say Cops
Accused was counselled 16 times, still murdered his wife
Hyderabad: Arun Kumar, 48, a real estate businessman, who was accused of shooting his wife dead in Malkajgiri on Wednesday, was counselled by the Amberpet police 16 times in two months. He was also arrested once with illegal weapons, as he was determined to kill his wife, sources said on Thursday. He was out on bail in the arms case when he murdered Nisha Rani, his second wife.
According to Malkajgiri DCP Ch. Sridhar, the accused, was married to the elder sister of Nisha Rani, for almost 20 years and had two kids. When his wife was diagnosed with cancer, Arun Kumar developed an affair with the victim and began living with her at Maruthinagar in Malkajgiri. However, he suspected Nisha Rani and allegedly subjected her to physical and mental harassment, due to which she took shelter at her relative’s residence frequently.
In March, the Amberpet police arrested Arun Kumar after finding him with an illegal weapon, which he had purchased from Bihar. During the interrogation, he confessed that the purpose of acquiring the weapon was to kill Nisha Rani. He apparently told his first wife of his murder plan, but she refused to get involved.
Subsequently, the Amberpet police began counselling the accused, who was having suicidal thoughts. They counselled him 16 times, twice a week, eight times a month, for two months.
After two months, the accused pretended to have a change of heart and said that he doesn’t have any ill intentions towards his wife anymore and wants to lead a normal life. The accused remained in jail for 20 days. His initial attempts to secure bail failed. However, he was granted bail on March 30. The police were also working to secure the cancellation of the bail.
After the release, he brought the victim back to his home. But he strongly believed that his wife was having an affair, and she was getting witchcraft performed against him. As his fear and suspicion grew stronger, he even stopped visiting his home for meals.
As the marital disputes intensified in recent days, the accused allegedly murdered his second wife early Wednesday. He shot his wife 4 times — two of them hit her in the head, and two others missed.
Based on the technical evidence and other clues, DCP Sridhar, along with his Malkajgiri police team, arrested the accused and seized the firearm. The two bullets in the deceased's head were recovered during the postmortem. Police said the weapon was traced to a Maharashtra-based gang and that the accused had allegedly paid about Rs 45,000 for it.
The police also seized a country-made pistol with an empty magazine, a magazine containing three live rounds, a button knife, two stainless steel knives, a surgical blade, a car and a two-wheeler.
