Hyderabad: On Jan 15, when Gurumurthy was boiling his wife Venkatamadhavi’s flesh and burning her bones on a stove, the odour prompted a neighbour to come and check, suspecting a fire in the building. However, when the neighbour did not notice any fire or smoke he returned home, thinking that someone might be cooking the head and hoof of a goat (talakaya kalla kura) as it was a festival day.
Moreover, the building where Gurumurthy’s family was staying in a single rented room was almost empty on Jan 15, giving him an advantage to execute the gory act. Four other families, including that of the owner, were away for Sankranti.
During the investigation, police found that the G+2 building at New Venkateshwara Colony at Jillelaguda under Meerpet police station was around ten years old, and five families, including Gurumurthy and the building owner, were staying there.
Being Sankranti, the building was empty, and even a few neighbouring houses were also empty.
However, one family from the same building returned during the afternoon after a pooja and noticed an unusual odour. After not being able to find any smoke or fire or trace the source of the odour, they suspected that somebody in the area might be cooking.
Festival shielded discovery
“Gurumurthy’s rented portion is in the rear of the building behind a 2 BHK portion located at the front, due to which the neighbour also did not put much effort into going to the rear and checking for the source of the odour,” an investigating official told TOI.
By this time, Gurumurthy, had already chopped the body of his wife and was in the process of boiling the flesh and burning her bones. “He was also under the impression that the building was empty and did not expect that somebody would come in to investigate the odour, so he continued with the act without any hindrance,” the official added.
While other residents in the building had already vacated, police gathered some information from the building owner and other neighbours in the locality. After tracing other tenants, they will soon record their statements, said the official.
