Suraj Kumar, an Indian man, was convicted and given a life sentence for murdering his wife with a deadly cobra. Kumar spent 7,000 rupees ($92; £67) to buy a spectacled cobra, one of the world's most venomous snakes, even though snake trade is outlawed in India.
Suraj was betrothed to Uthra, who came from a wealthy family. Suraj accepted a dowry of 768 grams of gold (worth about $32,000 today), a Suzuki automobile, and 400,000 rupees in cash from Uthra's parents after the pair married. Investigators stated he also received 8,000 rupees every month from her parents "to watch after their daughter."
When Uthra was bitten by a highly venomous snake the first time, she spent 52 days at her parents' house recovering from the bite and three excruciating procedures to treat her afflicted leg. The second attempted murder occurred when she took a glass of sedative-laced fruit juice from Suraj. Suraj brought out the container with the cobra, overturned it, and dumped the five-foot-long snake on his sleeping wife after the mixture had put her to sleep.
It didn't assault her that time, so Suraj attempted to murder his wife for the third time by provoking the snake. As a result, the angry cobra bit her twice. Then it slithered over to a room shelf, where it sat all night. Uthra was discovered dead, with two pairs of puncture wounds on her left forearm that were less than an inch apart, according to the autopsy report. Cobra venom and sedative medications were found in blood and viscera samples. By paralyzing respiratory muscles, cobra poison can kill in hours.
Suraj was arrested on May 24th, and the trial began following a 78-day inquiry and charges totaling over 1,000 pages. More than 90 witnesses testified, including herpetologists and medics, and evidence was presented that proved Suraj's involvement. Suresh, the snake catcher, turned on Suraj and admitted to supplying him both snakes used in his wife's murder.
Images by: Sreedhar Lal
Spectacled cobra showing its hood. Image by Ganesh SahSudi/wikipedia
