The burn identity
Horrific wounds suffered by boyfriend who helped married lover kill her husband before letting her douse him in acid so he could have plastic surgery and steal victim’s identity
These are the horrific acid burns deliberately inflicted on an Indian man so he could steal the identity of his lover’s husband - who she had allegedly already murdered.
Swathy Reddy, 28, allegedly hatched the plan to kill husband Sudhakar, 32, so she could be with boyfriend Rajesh Ajjakolu, police claim.
Mrs Reddy allegedly killed her husband and then poured acid on Mr Ajjakolu before telling her husband’s family that ‘their son’ had suffered a horrific accident and needed to be taken to hospital for facial reconstruction.
But after 11 days Sudhakar’s mum and dad got suspicious when they noticed his ‘mannerisms had changed’ and informed the police.
The bizarre murder plot has echoes of the 1997 action movie Face/Off, starring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage, in which the pair undergo a medical procedure to swap faces.
In fact, local police say the couple took inspiration from the 2014 Indian film ‘ Yevadu’ meaning ‘ who’ where one of the characters has plastic surgery to assume the identity of another man.
Po l i c e o f f i cer DSP A Lakshminarayana told Gulf News that the husband had found out about his wife’s affair a few days ago and that Swathi had become fearful of the fallout.
Police say the mother- of- two attacked Sudhakar, her husband of seven years, with a blunt object when he returned home on November 26.
Rajesh arrived and after killing Sudhakar, the pair, who started an affair two years ago, took him in a rolled up mat to a nearby forest and burnt the body, police say.
Two days later, Swathi disfigured Rajesh’s face and body with acid - apparently with his blessing, police say.
She is then said to have told her husband’s parents that their son had been injured by acid attackers.
Sudhakar’s shocked family, believing their son was still alive, moved Rajesh to a hospital in Hyderabad and lodged a complaint to police about the apparent ‘gang attack’.
But they soon became suspicious about the identity of the man they were caring for and police revised their investigation.
They are said to have raised the alarm after bringing mutton soup in to hospital - one of Sudhakar’s favourites - only for the bogus patient to turn it down saying he was a vegetarian.
Officers took Rajesh’s finger prints and compared them with details they held for for Sudhakar - and on receiving the results, immediately arrested Swathi.
She is then said to have admitted murdering her husband and they later recovered the body.
Rajesh has also been arrested and he will appear in court after leaving hospital.
The bizarre murder plot has echoes of the 1997 action movie Face/Off, starring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage, in which the pair undergo a medical procedure to swap faces.