The Medipally police have arrested a 27-year-old man for murdering his five-month-pregnant wife, chopping her body into pieces and dumping parts of it in the Musi river at Prathapsingaram village.
The accused, identified as Samala Mahender Reddy, works as a bike taxi rider and resides at East Balaji Hills in Boduppal and is originally from Vikarabad.
He married B. Swathi, 21, a neighbour from the same village, on January 20, 2024, at Arya Samaj in Kukatpally. After their marriage, the couple shifted to Hyderabad and lived in Boduppal, said DCP Malkajgiri, P.V. Padmaja.
They reportedly lived peacefully for about a month before frequent quarrels began.
“On April 22 last year, Swathi lodged a complaint with the Vikarabad Women’s Police station, following which a case under Section 498-A of the IPC and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act was registered. Later, village elders intervened, and the matter was compromised,” said the officer.
Swathi worked for three months at a call centre in Punjagutta, but Mahender stopped her from continuing her job after expressing suspicion over her movements. “By August, she was five months into her pregnancy, but quarrels between the two continued. On August 22, she informed Mahender that she would go to Vikarabad on August 27 for a medical check-up and then stay at her parents’ house. The accused objected, and a fight followed. On the same day, Mahender decided to kill her,” added the DCP.
To execute his plan, he purchased an axe in Boduppal and kept it in the house. On August 23, at around 4.30 p.m., he throttled Swathi to death at their residence. He then chopped the body into pieces, disposed parts in the Musi river at Prathapsingaram. He retained the torso in the house. The Medipally police arrested him and remanded him to judicial custody.
