Using Deadly Snakes To Commit Murder Becoming New Trend: What SC Said Denying Bail To Accused

The Supreme Court denied bail to a man accused of murdering an elderly woman, who died of poisoning after she was bitten by a snake.

Denying bail to the accused, the bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said that is a heinous crime to use a poisonous snake as a ¡®weapon¡¯ to murder an elderly woman.

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What is the case?

The case dates back to June 2019, when Subodh Devi, an elderly woman from Jhunjhunu district was found dead inside her home, a case in which initially it was believed that she had died of a snakebite, something that is very common in the area.

Later it emerged that Devi was killed by her daughter-in-law and her lover, to hide their affair.

Devi's son, Sachin who was in the army had married Aparna in December 2018.

While he was away, Aparna, who allegedly had an affair with a man identified as Manish before the marriage, got once again closer to him.

But when Devi found her daughter-in-law speaking to someone over the phone for long hours, she reprimanded her.

Feeling that the mother-in-law would become a hindrance to their affair, Manish and Aparna, with the help of another friend called Krishna Kumar bought a poisonous snake from a snake charmer for Rs 10,000.

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Devi was found dead in her room on 2, June 2019. Even though initially it was thought to be a case of snakebite, some relatives expressed doubts and approved the police.

During the investigation, it came to light that on the day of the incident, 124 calls were made between Alpana and Manish, and 19 calls were made between Alpana and Krishna Kumar.

The trio was arrested in January 2020 for the murder of Devi.

Advocate Aditya Chaudhary, appearing for one the accused, Kumar, argued that there was no evidence against him and that his client was not present at the crime scene.

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¡°How would he be a part of the conspiracy when no one can predict whom the snake will bite? Just leaving a poisonous snake in the room does not mean the snake knew whom it should bite. The police have not authenticated the call records. The man is behind bars for more than a year.¡±

"Common to use poisonous snakes for murders"

To that, the bench said, ¡°It is very common in Rajasthan to use poisonous snakes for committing murders. You have used an innovative method to commit a heinous crime. You were allegedly part of the conspiracy and provided the murder weapon (snake) after procuring it from the snake charmer. You do not deserve to be released on bail at this stage.¡±

Using snakes to commit murder is not something that is limited to Rajasthan.

Last year, there was a high-profile case in Kerala where a man used a cobra that he had bought from a local snake catcher to kill his wife.

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