Swathi Reddy with her husband Rajesh Reddy. (file photo) Swathi Reddy with her husband Rajesh Reddy. (file photo)

A 34-year-old woman who killed her husband and tried to pass off her lover as her husband, after disfiguring his face with acid, has been arrested by police in Nagarkurnool town in Telangana. Nagarkurnool Town Police said that they have arrested Swathi Reddy, wife of Sudhakar Reddy, who was bludgeoned to death by Swathi and her lover, Ajakole Rajesh Reddy, on November 27.

“Swathi is a trained nurse and she gave anaesthesia injection to Sudhakar on November 27 afternoon. When he was unconscious she and Rajesh hit him on his head with an iron rod and bludgeoned him to death. They disfigured his face and dumped the body at Nawabpet forest after partially burning it,” Investigation Officer Srinivas Rao said.

Swathi smeared acid, mixed with petrol, on Rajesh’s face, disfiguring it completely, and raised an alarm that someone attacked her husband.

“She called up Sudhakar’s parents and told them that four persons entered their house and attacked Sudhakar. Although, they expressed their doubts that it does not appear to be their son, they agreed to shift him Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad as Swathi insisted that he immediately needed plastic surgery. The next day Sudhakar’s brother lodged a police complaint and we took up the investigation,’’ Rao added.

Swathi Reddy’s lover Rajesh Reddy. Swathi Reddy’s lover Rajesh Reddy.

Police, however, grew suspicious of Swathi when she became nervous under questioning and changed her statement regarding the incident.

“She claimed that she used to go for physiotherapy to Rajesh and that he had clicked her photos and was blackmailing her to have a physical relationship with him. She said that he threatened to harm her husband and their two children. But she kept changing her statement which made us suspicious of her. We searched for Rajesh for a couple of days. His mother said he told her on November 26 evening that he was going to Vijayawada for a few days to attend a marriage. We were trying to trace him. In the meantime, Sudhakar’s parents also told us they thought the person in the hospital was not their son. When we questioned Swathi again, she confessed to killing Sudhakar and that the person in the hospital was Rajesh,’’ Inspector Rao said.

Swathi was arrested last Friday after she took police to the spot where Sudhakar’s body was dumped. Swathi told police that she used to go to Rajesh’s clinic for physiotherapy two years ago. Police said that Rajesh is not a qualified physiotherapist; he dropped out of the four-year course after completing just one year.

Rajesh Reddy’s face was disfigured beyond recognition. Rajesh Reddy’s face was disfigured beyond recognition.

According to police, Swathi told Rajesh that she was unhappy in her marriage and they both started having an affair.

“A week before the murder, Sudhakar’s cousin saw Swathi and Rajesh in a car and informed Sudhakar who confronted his wife. They quarreled several times but Swathi kept denying. Swathi and Rajesh wanted to get married and hatched this plan to get rid of Sudhakar, who used to run a stone-crushing unit,’’ Inspector Rao said.

The lovers also inquired at a hospital the cost of plastic surgery saying that they needed the information for a burns patients. A doctor told them that the surgery would be possible only if the burns did not exceed 30 per cent.

Rajesh Reddy after receiving treatment. Rajesh Reddy after receiving treatment.

Police said that Sudhakar’s parents expressed their doubts on November 28 itself as the height and build of the person covered in bandages at Apollo Hospital did not match with their son, Sudhakar. After suspecting some mischief, Sudhakar’s parents, who initially deposited Rs 1.50 lakh as hospital charges, refused to pay more and left the hospital. Now, Apollo is refusing to discharge Rajesh till the pending amount of Rs 3 lakhs is paid. With Swathi in judicial custody and Rajesh’s mother and uncle A Rambabu refusing to even come to see him, Rajesh is stranded in the hospital.

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