Cobra kept in jar and starved so husband to use it to kill wife in horror murder

A twisted husband murdered his wife in a truly horrifying way – by starving a deadly cobra snake and forcing it to bite her while she slept.

Bank workers, Sooraj Kumar, 27, had been married to Uthra for two years when he hatched his sick plan to kill his wife so he could become the sole owner of her dowry in gold and receive the payment for her life insurance policy, which he had taken out just a few months before her death.

Mum-of-one Uthra was a stay at home mum and had a disability. When she suffered the fatal snake bite she was recovering from a previous snake attack just months earlier, which had raised suspicions from her loved ones.

In March 2020, Uthra had been bitten by a Russell’s viper at her home on Adoor, India, which had left her unable to get out of bed. She had returned home to her parents to recover and had had to endure plastic surgery to repair the damage done by the deadly snake.

Just 52 days after the first attack, her mother found her unconscious and it soon became apparent she had been bitten by yet another snake, this time a cobra, on May 6, 2020. Uthra died in agony the following day.

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It was only when the room was searched that the cobra was found and killed. Chillingly, her husband, Sooraj, who usually slept until late, had woken early and gone outside before his wife was discovered.

It wasn’t until a week after Uthra’s tragic death that her family began to suspect it was more than a devastating accident and her father, Vijayasenan, contacted police. He realised it would have been almost impossible for the cobra to get into the room to attack his daughter without either her, or her husband, realising.

As well as this, Uthra had told her parents that Sooraj was an expert at handling venomous snakes. The family had also contacted a renowned snake expert, Vava Suresh, who was the one who told the victim’s parents to alert authorities. He claimed the first snake bite should have been almost impossible as it was so difficult for a Russell’s viper to reach the second floor of the house where Uthra was attacked.

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Sooraj was arrested, along with snake catcher Chavarukavu Suresh, then there was a huge breakthrough. In July 2020, Sooraj made an astounding confession. He admitted he had bought two snakes for £100 each. He also confessed he had given Uthra sleeping tablets to sedate her before releasing his deadly murder weapon.

To ensure the cobra bit his wife Sooraj also admitted to keeping the snake in a bottle with no food between April 24 and May 6.

Sooraj was arrested for murder, attempted murder, attempted permanent injury and destruction of evidence. While officers were investigating Uthra’s tragic death they also discovered her bank locker had been removed on the date of the first snake attack. her father-in-law, Surendran Panicker, was also arrested on suspicion of destroying evidence and hiding 38 pieces of gold jewellery, which police found hidden in a nearby rubber plantation. Sadly, most of her dowry is still missing.

Then, in August of the same year, Sooraj’s mother, Renuka, and sister, Surya, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy, domestic violence and destruction of evidence.

The snake catcher, while originally one of the suspects, became crucial in securing a conviction.

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In August 2021, Sooraj was found guilty of using the cobra to kill Uthra, the first time a live animal had been used as a murder weapon and resulted in a conviction.

He was given two life sentences and a film, Rajakumari, was released in 2025 about the Uthra’ horrifying murder.