Family slams doors shut on ‘face-off’ case accused

Parents disown woman who murdered her husband to live with lover

Ahousewife charged with orchestrating the murder of her husband and plastic surgery for her lover so they could move in together, with the latter passing off as her husband, was granted bail by a court after spending eight months in jail but was sent to a state shelter home as her parents refused to allow her back into their home.

In the case, which has come to be known as the ‘face-off case,’ the woman, Swati, was arrested by Nagarkurnool police in Telangana last year after her plan to swap her husband with her paramour was foiled by alert relatives.

Sinister plan

Swati and her paramour Rajesh, a physiotherapist, allegedly murdered her husband, Sudhakar Reddy, a contractor, and buried the body at an isolated place in a forest area outside town.

As part of the plan, Swati had thrown some acid on Rajesh’s face so he could go in for plastic surgery and live with her pretending to be her husband. However, during his treatment at DRDO Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad, family members of Reddy became suspicious and alerted the police, bringing the sinister plan to light. Both Swati and Rajesh were arrested and sent to judicial custody.

Revulsion and anger gripped Nagarkurnool town following the grisly murder and Swati’s parents had at the time disowned their daughter. Her father even performed symbolic funeral rituals in her name.

In this backdrop, when the local court granted bail to Swati, no family member came forward to post surety on her behalf and, even ten days after being allowed bail, she remained in prison. Finally, the district authorities moved her to a women’s shelter in Mahbubnagar as they feared that if she was asked to go out of jail, somebody could attack or harm her.

Officials said that some outsiders had earlier come forward to arrange bail for her but Swati had refused to accept it hoping that some family members would come forward to get her out of jail. Her two young children have been staying with their paternal grandparents.

Rajesh, her accomplice in the crime, is still in jail.