Hyderabad: A local court has awarded life imprisonment to a Hyderabad woman and her lover for killing her 1.5-year-old son.
The woman, identified as Enkepally Mahalaxmi, also known as Laxmi, along with her lover, Pothuganti Srikanth Reddy, murdered her son, Avinash, on June 19, 2014.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on each of the convicts for the heinous crime.
According to court proceedings, the Hyderabad woman Laxmi and her lover Srikanth conspired to kill the child out of fear that his presence might disrupt their illicit relationship.
Initially, Laxmi eloped from the house of her husband, Enkepally Parshuram. While eloping, she took Avinash with her.
After eloping, Laxmi, Avinash, and Srikanth started living in a rented house in Mokila. Later, they planned to murder Avinash.
It was revealed that Srikanth used his leg to throttle the child, and Laxmi suffocated him to ensure his death. The couple then buried the body in a nearby field.
The following day, the body was discovered by a tractor driver plowing the field. Immediately, the police were alerted.
Initially, the case was registered as a suspicious death under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.).
However, when Parshuram identified the body and revealed that Laxmi had fled with Srikanth after developing an extramarital relationship while working as a labourer, the police changed the charges.
The police reclassified the case under relevant sections. On June 24, 2014, the accused were arrested at Shankarpalli railway station.
Both, the Hyderabad woman and her lover, confessed to their crime and led investigators to the burial site.
A postmortem report confirmed asphyxiation caused by pressure on the neck as the cause of death. The court ruled that the crime was premeditated and upheld the prosecution’s evidence.
