Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): The prison authorities on Thursday shifted Sooraj, who was convicted for murdering his wife Uthra using a poisonous snake, from Kollam district jail to Poojapura Central prison.
Sooraj was brought to Poojappura at 11 am on Friday and was allocated cell number 4642. Sooraj was imprisoned at Kollam prison as he was an undertrial and when the court convicted and sentenced him for a double life term along with additional imprisonment of 17 years, the prison authorities decided to shift him to Poojappura.
Uthra's family has been demanding the death penalty for Sooraj. Uthra's mother said they would approach the High Court against the order of the Principal Sessions Judge. Sooraj is also likely to approach the High Court for acquittal claiming innocence.
Uthra was found dead, after being bitten by a snake on May 7, 2020. Her husband Sooraj tried to portray it as a natural snake bite death. Police started an investigation into the case after Uthra's parents approached them alleging the mystery behind the death of their daughter. Police later found out that Sooraj had used a cobra to kill Uthra. He had unsuccessfully attempted to kill her using a viper in March 2020.
Police had found out that Sooraj had aimed to grab the property of Uthra by eliminating her. There were no eyewitnesses in the case and police had turned the second accused as an approver. Police had found out that Sooraj extensively watched snake-handling videos from Youtube before attempting to kill Uthra.
Read: Kerala man, who poisoned wife to death using snake, jailed for 45 years, including double life term
