Court sentences Hyderabad priest to life for murdering actress and attempting to cover it up
Hyderabad: The XI Additional District and Sessions Judge, Y. Jaya Prasad, R.R. District at L.B. Nagar, convicted Ayyagari Venkata Sai Krishna, a priest at the Bangaru Maisamma Temple in Saroornagar, for the murder of a young woman. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs. 10,00,000. Of this amount, Rs. 9,75,000 is to be paid as compensation to the victim’s parents/legal heirs, while Rs. 25,000 will be remitted to the government.
The accused will also serve a sentence of seven years of rigorous imprisonment for concealing the crime, along with an additional fine of Rs. 10,000. In case of default, he will face further imprisonment.
As per the version of Public Prosecutor Vodyarapu Ravikumar, the incident, which took place in June 2023, involved a chilling act of premeditated murder. The accused, who was also running a Vedapatashala, managing a Goshala, and involved in temple development, had developed an extramarital affair with the victim, a private employee and actress. After the victim pressured him to marry her, the accused, who was already married, decided to eliminate her.
On June 3, 2023, under the pretext of a trip to Coimbatore, the accused took the victim to Shamshabad. After roaming around, he drove her to Navrang Venture, Narkuda. When the victim fell asleep in the car, he carried out his plan, covering her head with a car body cover and repeatedly striking her with a stone, inflicting fatal head injuries.
The accused then transported her body to his apartment and kept it in the parking area for two days before disposing of it in a drainage manhole behind the Saroornagar Sub-Registrar’s Office. To conceal the crime, he filled the manhole with red soil and later cemented it.
On June 5, 2023, the accused misled the victim’s mother, claiming she had gone to Bhadrachalam with friends and was unreachable. He even filed a false missing person report at RGI Airport Police Station.
Upon police interrogation, the accused confessed to the murder, leading to the recovery of the victim's body, the murder weapon (stone), and other evidence. Consequently, the police changed the case from a missing person to charges under Sections 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code.