Snakebite murder: Postmortem report handed over to investigation team

The detailed postmortem report of Uthra was handed over by the officials of Medical College Hospotal, Thiruvananthapuram, to the Crime Branch team investigating her death on Tuesday.

KOLLAM: The detailed postmortem report of Uthra was handed over by the officials of Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, to the Crime Branch team investigating her death on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the investigation team exhumed the carcass of the cobra which had bitten the deceased and sent it for postmortem.

According to the police, the remains of the snake are being subjected to scientific tests as it was used as a weapon to kill the woman. “As there are no direct eyewitnesses, the police expect the circumstantial and scientific evidence will help crack the case. Hence, once the post-mortem report and DNA test report of the snake are released, after comparing the details of the two reports, we could confirm that the same snake which was buried near her house was used to kill her,” said Crime Branch DySP A Ashokan.

The procedures of the autopsy of the snake started on Tuesday morning. “We have confirmed that the buried snake was a cobra. Other details such as the venom of the snake and the gap between its fangs which were noted during the procedure will be mentioned in the detailed report, which will be submitted to the police team soon,” said a veterinary surgeon, who conducted the autopsy procedure. However, Kollam rural SP S Harishankar said that the Uthra murder case is the rarest of the rare cases. It will be a big challenge for the police to prove the case using only circumstantial evidence.