India man gets life sentence for killing wife with cobra

An Indian man who used a cobra and a viper to murder his wife has been handed a double life sentence in what prosecutors have called the rarest of rare cases.

Prosecutors said the man, Sooraj Kumar set loose a highly venomous Russell’s viper snake on his wife Uthra that left her in hospital for almost two months

While the wife recovered at her parents’ house, Kumar obtained a cobra from a snake handler and threw it at his sleeping wife.

Its poisonous bite killed the 25-year-old woman in May 2020.

Kumar was arrested from his home last year after Uthra’s parents raised suspicions, alleging that their daughter was being harassed for more dowry.

The woman’s parents said Kumar tried to take control of her property after the death.