In a macabre act, a man beheaded his wife and then carried her severed head through the streets of Vijayawada on Sunday. The shocking incident occurred in Srinagar colony under Satyanarayanapuram police station limits.
According to the police, Pradeep Kumar slit his wife Manikranti's (23) throat with a knife near their house. He then beheaded her and was seen walking briskly on the street with her head in one hand and a knife in the other.
CCTVs installed in the colony recorded people running in horror on seeing the killer with the severed head. Pradeep threw the head in a nearby canal and then surrendered at the Satyanarayanapuram police station.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Vijay Rao told reporters that the search was on for the severed head. The headless body was shifted to a government-run hospital for autopsy.
According to preliminary investigations by the police, Pradeep had and Manikranti had married five years ago. However, there were frequent quarrels between the couple.
Manikranti had filed a case of domestic violence against Pradeep some time ago and he was arrested. Pradeep, who was recently released on bail, resorted to the brutal killing to seek revenge, the police said.
This is not the first time that such an incident has come to light from the two Telugu states. In July, two men in Telangana murdered a man by beheading him, and then took the severed head to the police station and surrendered after committing the crime. The incident took place at Nampally mandal in Nalgonda district.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the two accused, Irfan and Ghouse, murdered the man, later identified as Saddam, to avenge the death of their cousin, Razia. The woman, who was a widow, was in a relationship with Saddam and was taken to Hyderabad by him some years ago to work at a residence a Saroornagar. She was later found dead under suspicious circumstances in 2017 and the duo had since then blamed him for her death.
IANS inputs