Daijiworld Media Network - Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Mar 26: A Hyderabad court on Wednesday sentenced a temple priest to life imprisonment for murdering a 30-year-old woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.

The convict, Ayyagari Venkata Surya Sai Krishna, was found guilty of killing Apsara, a resident of Saroornagar, in 2023 after she pressured him to marry her. The Rangareddy district court not only handed him a life sentence but also imposed an additional seven-year term for destroying evidence and levied a fine of Rs 10,000.

The murder came to light on June 9, 2023, sending shockwaves through the city. Sai Krishna, a priest at the Maisamma temple in Saroornagar, was already married with two children but had been involved in an affair with Apsara. When she insisted on marriage, he hatched a plan to silence her permanently.

On June 3, he took Apsara to Sultanpalli in Shamshabad mandal, where they got into a heated argument. In a brutal act, he smashed her head with a boulder, killing her instantly. He then stuffed her body in a bag, drove back to Saroornagar, and dumped the remains in a manhole behind the temple where he worked.

In an attempt to mislead investigators, Sai Krishna lodged a false missing person complaint with Shamshabad police, claiming that he had dropped Apsara at the airport and lost contact with her afterward. He stated that she stopped responding to calls on June 4, and her phone was later switched off.

However, the police grew suspicious and conducted a detailed investigation, analyzing CCTV footage and mobile signals. The evidence led them to uncover that the complainant himself was the murderer. Upon questioning, Sai Krishna confessed to the crime, sealing his fate.

With all evidence presented effectively in court, the Shamshabad police ensured his conviction, bringing justice to the victim and her family.