Man kills wife for property, blames it on snake bite

Bagalkot, Feb 18: A man who strangled his wife to death on Tuesday at Chichakhandi village in Mudhol taluk, and later claimed she died of a snake bite, was arrested by Lokapur police on Friday.

Chandru Kirabanur, a native of SK Koppa village, married Ratnavva of Chichakhandi eight years ago. Chandru settled down at his wife's house in Chichakhandi. Ratnavva was the eldest of three sisters. While one sister had married and subsequently moved to her husband's house, the youngest sister was still unwed. Chandru reportedly hatched a plan to kill Ratnavva so that he could marry the youngest sister, and take possession of his father-inlaw's property.

Chandru allegedly purchased a harmless snake from a charmer, paying him an advance of Rs 5,000 on February 11, and hid the animal in a sugarcane field. On Tuesday, when Ratnavva set out to work in the fields, he followed her and strangled her to death. He allegedly started shouting for help, and sought help to kill the snake, which he claimed killed his wife. He then proceeded to beat snake to death and placed the lifeless reptile near his wife's body.

While the villagers did not suspect any foul play, police realized that something was amiss when they spotted rings around Ratnavva's neck.

A postmortem of Ratnavva's body confirmed their suspicions. Chandru also confessed to the crime during interrogation.

Lokapur police have booked a case of murder against Chandru and have taken him into custody.