THE CRIME CASE CHAPTER 3

INSPIRATIONS: In order to write this last part of the trilogy, I had done a lots of research. Since, this is based on 2020 Kerala Snakebite murder of Uthra case and is one of the most fascinating and challenging case in the state. Further, this is one of my most challenging crime thrillers. 

ANCHAL, KOLLAM DISTRICT: 

06 MAY 2020: 

Around 12:30 AM, in a house, a large Black Cobra goes to the bed of a woman, who has been sleeping and bites her, to which she doesn't respond. The cobra, later on, goes into a nearby Bureau and hides.

FEW HOURS LATER, 07 MAY 2020: 

A few hours later, the girl's mother comes to her bedroom in order to call her in the morning.

"Varshini. Wake up ma. See the time now." Her mother Krishnaveni said to her. However, as she doesn't wake up, she panicked and checked her pulse, which doesn't function and sees poison, coming out from her mouth.

Following this, she contacts her husband Sooraj, who have gone to work to his bank telling, "Son-in-law. A snake has again bitten Varshini." Panick-striken he rushes to the house and the room was searched.

Sooraj and his cousin brother Vishnu finds out the cobra and gets it killed. She was immediately rushed to the hospitals and was declared dead.

Sooraj is heartbroken and cries out aloud in front of his family members telling, "I am now left alone, Uthra. You have left me." His cousin brother consoled him.

ONE WEEK LATER, 21 MAY 2020: 

One week after the death of Varshini, her father Chandrasekhar contacted police, stating that he suspected foul play in his daughter's death. The answerer ACP Aravinth Sudheer states him, "Sir. You can come and meet me in the office so that we could discuss about this case in detail."

Chandrasekhar reaches Kerala Police along with his wife Manimeghalai, of Kollam district and meets him in the room no. 402. There, Aravinth ordered his police constable telling, "Sir. You handle this case and produce the culprits to the court."

Seeing the parents of Uthra, Aravinth pauses for a while and tells him, "We will discuss about this case later on. You go." He gladly tells Uthra's parents, "Have a seat please sir."

There, Chandrasekhar is asked, "Before I ask about the suspicion that you have regarding your daughter's death, I have a few questions to ask you sir."

They permit to ask the question and Aravinth asked him, "Was your daughter a differently-abled person sir?"

His wife Manimeghalai replied him stating: "When born, she was deaf and mute sir. Due to an injection, it became her permanent problem."

And following this, Aravinth drinks a glass of 7-up and pauses for a while. Afterward, he proceeds to ask them: "Any other details about your daughter?"

Following this, Chandrasekhar tells him, "Sir. Since my daughter was born mute, we raised her up with lots of care and responsibilities for 20 year periods. When she attained 20 years, we searched for a perfect groom and within three to four years of time, we found Sooraj as our daughter's groom. He works in the private financial sector. As their family was financially settled down and he looked good, we daughter him for our daughter, hoping that he would take care of my daughter well enough and got him married to our daughter on March 25, 2018." Despite this, Varshini's family have gave them the money worth 10 lakhs, a car costing 8 lakhs and a rubber plantation farm to the bridegroom family. The marriage happened successfully in a grand manner.

Manimeghalai now explains in further, saying: "Sir. She was found unconscious, in her bedroom in my home, when I moved forward to call her and wake up in the morning."

"When did the snake bite her madam?"

"It could have bitten her on 6 May 2020, as per my guess sir. Uthra died the next day, 7 May 2020. A large Indian cobra was found in the bedroom that she shared with her husband" said Manimeghalai.

"And how you suspect her death to be unnatural sir?"

"Sir. Reports showed that she died naturally." He said and asked them to prove their point of statement, for which Manimeghalai stated, "Sir. The room is filled with Air conditioner. For a cobra, it's very difficult to enter such a room, without being detected."

Now been confused and puzzled, Aravinth asked to Chandrasekhar, "Sir. I can't able to accept your point. Need more clarification for the case details."

MARCH 2, 2020: 

1:00 PM:

Dejected, Chandrasekhar reveals about an incident that happened on March 2, 2020.

Sharply at 1:00 PM, Chandrasekhar's son-in-law, Sooraj calls him and he attends asking, "Son-in-law. How are you?"

"Uncle." He cried, wiping his eyes with a kerchief. Panicked and perplexed, Shekhar asked him, "What happened?"

"A snake had bitten Varshini, uncle. We have admitted her in a nearby hospitals." Sooraj said and they rushed to the hospitals.

PRESENT: 

"We spent lakhs of money to save her and the snake bitten place was her leg. The whole place of that bitten skin was removed and upon instigating about the snake, we got to know that it's Russel's Viper." Chandrasekhar said.

Shocked, Aravinth asked them: "Russel's viper. Usually, it is highly poisonous and deadly, right? How did your daughter survive such a big snake bite? So surprising."

"It's God's grace sir. We managed to cure her and it took minimum 50 days time period to bring her into stability. Sharply on April 22, she got discharged from the hospitals sir." Manimeghalai said.

"Where did she prefer to stay following her discharge from the hospitals?" asked Aravinth.

"Sir. She preferred to stay in our house and prior to her discharge, Sooraj came to visit her after two weeks period of time on March 6, 2021. He stayed the whole night and the next day, around 6.00 AM, he went for some works."

Chandrasekhar then tells, "Sharply after he left, we called him thirty minutes later sir. Since, my daughter was bitten by another snake and prior to the info, he turned the car and drived faster to reach our house. But, taking to the hsopital, she had been declared as dead sir."

Following this incident, Sooraj and Varshini's cousin Raghavan went and searched everywhere of the house and found out Black Cobra under the Bureau. This is the most venomous snakes among the cobras. Both angrily killed the snake and buried it outside the house.

Chandrasekhar tells him, "Sharply after three days of her death, my son-in-law came to me and said to give Uthra's half share of property. Since, he wanted to raise up his one-year old son. Then only, I suspected some foul play behind my daughter's death sir."

Manimeghalai now additionally tells him, "Sir. Then only we started thinking deeper. Varshini didn't wear any dresses beneath her hip, following the attack from Russel's Viper. And additionally, all the windows were closed in her room. Even though the snake could have entered through the windows, it should have attacked Sooraj, who was sleeping beneath my daughter. But, how could it attack my daughter alone?"

As Aravinth is listening to their words, Chandrasekhar suddenly stopped Manimeghalai and tells to Adhithya, "Sir. Varshini used to tell me about her husband's motto to start an YouTube channel."

"Youtube channel?" He doubted now. Chandrasekhar tells, "Sir. My daughter told me that, he was trained in handling snakes, that are both venomous and non-venomous. These all made me to suspect her death sir."

Aravinth now phones the area Inspector Sekhar Nair, who went for the house of Varshini, during the snake bite and along with his few police officers, he conducts an investigation in Varshini's house. However, they are unable to find any evidence in the house and Adhithya comes dejected to his house.

After bringing his daughter back from her schools, he sits and closes his eyes for a while, recalling about the memorable days that he had spent with his wife Anusha Nair.

FEW DAYS BACK:

Aravinth, being a victim of 2008 Mumbai bomb blasts, hated gangsters, terrorists and Smugglers since his childhood days. Abandoning his family members for their betrayal and owing to their lust for money he stayed in an orphanage house of Mumbai and studied well, determined to become an IPS Officer.

After his college days, he enrolled for UPSC Examinations and was posted as ACP of Bangalore under Anti-terrorism squad. Sooner, he was posted to Crime Branch in Palakkad. During that time, Mumbai mafia were keen to export drugs in the state of Kerala, with the help of the local gangsters.

However, Aravinth blocked them to enter into the place and slowly motivated people to stand against the anti-social elements, affecting Kerala's welfare. During these time, he was married off to his long love interest Anusha Nair, whom he loved since his college days in Pune. They lead a happier life, with their daughter been born too.

Yet, his happiness was short-lived when the gangsters killed her brutally and thrown her into a river. He was unable to prove his point, as she was framed as she committed suicide. Angered he brutally killed the gangsters, responsible for his wife's death and closed the case as encounter.

PRESENT:

Inter-connecting with this incident, Aravinth decides to under scientific approach for this case. He decides to take that Black cobra, which had bitten Varshini. He sends it for post-mortem, with the help of the constables and an ambulance.

Seeing the autopsy of the report, the doctor, who handled this meets Aravinth and tells him, "This Black Cobra was locked in a plastic bottle, without giving any food. Think and see sir. Without giving any food for six days, if anyone goes near to it, it would angrily hiss with poison and would bite too sir. Wantedly they have made it angered sir."

Following this, Aravinth conducts a demonstration in Varshini's house with the help of an 152 cm long Black Cobra and a statute of girl. With the help of a chicken skin, they tried to make the snake bite. However, it didn't bite the skin of the chicken and when they disturbed the snake by touching it, it bited the skin twice and upon measuring it, came to be 1.2(on the first bite) to 1.4(on the second bite) cm. Shocked, he studied the report of Varshini, in which the report stated: "She was bitten twice and the cm longs to 2.4 cm at the first bite and the second bite had 2.7 cm.

"Usually during the second bite, Cobra's venom would be lesser. But, in this Varshini's case, both the bite had been highly poisonous. Without disturbing a snake, it won't harm anyone sir. Additionally someone have forcefully holded it's teeth and made it to bite your daughter." Adhithya said it to Chandrasekhar and Manimeghalai, whom he met in their house. He decides to take some more evidence in Sooraj's house and decides to make an idea for it.

Knowing that, this evidence is not enough for this case, Aravinth decides to dig the case in further and asked for a solution to Inspector Sekhar.

"Sir. If you don't mind, I have got an idea." Suresh and a constable said to him.

Looking for a while, Aravinth asked them, "What idea sir? Tell me. Don't need to fear."

"Sir. We have an expert called Va Va Suresh in Kerala. He was bitten by King Cobra for 340 times and by Russel's Viper for 16 times. Yet, his body didn't give any reaction to it. And he is an expert in handling snakes sir." Adhithya finds this as an Golden clue from them and appreciated the two for this suggestion. He meets him near Thrissur district at a farmhouse and reveals about this case and explains about their analysis to him.

Noting the point of Varshini's death during her sleep, Vaa Vaa Suresh tells him, "Sir. If a cobra bites any person, they won't die in their sleep. Because, the snake bite would give so much pain that, they would shout and only die. If she has died without giving any kind of reactions, then it's something suspicious sir."

When Aravinth additionally reveals the first snake bite from Russel's viper in Sooraj's house, he secretly visits Sooraj's house along with him and is extremely shocked. Back to the office, Suresh tells him: "Sir. Russel's Viper won't enter into a place, that's wetter, been surrounded by plants and trees. It would always be present in dry places. It won't even climb a tree and I wonder how could it bite a girl in first floor. Leave this sir. Even in the tiles, this snake can't move so faster. With this, how could this harm Varshini. And I am surprised. How this girl would die without giving any reaction to the bite of Black Cobra snake. Scientific approach tells me, it's a pre-planned murder sir."

Shocked by this, Aravinth confronts Sooraj and since, police officers are there with him, a reluctant Sooraj decides to do what he says.

"Sooraj. Shall I see your mobile for a while?" Aravinth asked him, looking gaze. He gives his phone and Aravinth starts to conduct a search in his phone digging the search history and blowing history of Internet, Chrome and Youtube.

In all these three, this guy has searched about Russel's Viper and Black Cobra snakes respectively. He has seen "how would the poison be in Russel's Viper, how it reacts and how to escape from it." Shortly, before twenty days(following the biting of Russel's Viper Snake) he have done research regarding this thing. Following this, they conducts another research in the history, seeing the browsing history after 22 April, during when Varshini was discharged.

Sooraj has searched about Black Cobra. He has done research about handling this type of snake, how to get it easier, etc. Same like previously. However, Sooraj tells them that, "He had been reading how to handle snakes since I am planning to start a Youtube channel and also read about snakes." He shows few evidences about the snakes from few youtube channel videos. While seeing the vidoes, Aravinth comes across another snake handler named R.J.Suresh.( Not to confuse with Va Va Suresh.) He catches snakes and with the help of forest officials, sends it to forests.

Since, Va Va Suresh is a famous person in Kerala and is completely different. Inspector Sekhar Nair now asked Aravinth, "Sir. We are left with no clues now. What to do?"

"Who said no clues left? Suresh is there right. Let's go to him." Aravinth said and they meets him in his house for interrogation. Upon being asked and confronted about the case with so.many evidences, Suresh was left with no way. He tells them, "I will tell the truth sir. Sooraj got a Black Cobra from me by giving 10000 rupees. But, he didn't tell about killing his wife and instead told me, he is going to start a youtube channel and for that, he wanted to take videos and needed to study, etc. That's why I gave it to him sir."

With solid evidence against Sooraj, Aravinth arrests Sooraj and exposes his face to the family of Varshini. Her mother demands Aravinth to give him a death sentence and cried out aloud cursing the family of Sooraj. Inside the prison, Aravinth sits near Sooraj and tells him, "I myself felt like to kill you da. How could you dare to kill your own wife that too, through a snake da?"

Sooraj however tells him by laughing, "For this itself you are anger. But, for several things that I have done, how could you be able to tolerate it sir? May I tell my further crimes? May I show you? Can you bear or control your fears?" Aravinth takes Sooraj to Varshini's house, where he shows the bottle, in which he have hidden the Black Cobra. The fingerprints of Sooraj matches as he told. The bottle was there, backside the house.

Aravinth further asked him about Russel's Viper bite, which Sooraj accepts that, "He was involved in doing this crime" and additionally stated that, "The snake had bite Varshini by 9.00 AM. But, he informed her family by 1.00 PM to 2.00 PM only."

KERALA CENTRAL JAIL, 5:30 PM: 

Back in Kerala Central Jail around 5:30 PM, Aravinth asked Sooraj, "How didn't Varshini react to the snake bite however?"

Tapping the table madly, Sooraj replied: "How could she react? Whenever we does this thing, we would spike her juice with tablets and only when she is completely unconscious. Yet, Varshini woke up during the Russel bite and have told me that, something have bite her and is paining. Yet, I managed to trick and console her. Again we spiked her water with a tablet and made her to sleep. She died without knowing that, I am torturing her so mercilessly."

Angered, Aravinth pulls out a gun on him. Yet, he backs off due to the fear of law.

13 OCTOBER 2021: 

Days later on 13 October 2021, Aravinth's close friend Public Prosecutor M. Ashwin Menon stands for the police and Varshini's family. As per his argument, he states: "Honorable court. The accused Sooraj is a 27-year bank employee. He have been married to Varshini. Yet have told that, he isn't interested to live with a physically handicapped person and mercilessly used the name Sarpadosa to escape the law. Scientifically, it's proven that, he is the guy, who have committed this murder. Women are now in the safeless environment, my lord. Domestic violence, sexual harassment and lots more. Why?"

He paused for a while and continued saying, "I am sorry my lord. As per Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, the accused must pay the fine of 15 Lakhs and I kindly request you to punish Sooraj to 17 years imprisonment plus consecutive two life imprisonment. This is my kind request my lord."

Kollam Additional District and Sessions Court lead by additional sessions judge, Manoj M declared the verdict in favor of Varshini's family, "For dowry, for murder attempt and then for murdering, as per section 307, Section 300 and Section 304(2), Sooraj is imprisonment to 17 years imprisonment plus consecutive two life imprisonment and five lakh rupees penalty."

Varshini's family thanked the court Judge and resets to peacefulness. They praised and thanked Aravinth for his efforts in handling the case. Outside, the media people applauds police department for handling this kind of sensitive crime case.

As Aravinth goes back to his house, a reflection of his wife Anusha smiles at him. Seeing her reflection, he closed the door, as he is going inside the house.

EPILOGUE:

This is considered as the first case in the state of Kerala, where a murder involved use of a live animal as the weapon. In court, Sooraj was found guilty for using a live cobra to kill his wife Uthra.