A 29-year-old woman techie was murdered in cold blood by her ex-husband in Hyderabad on Wednesday. He reportedly stabbed her repeatedly in the head.
According to a PTI report, citing a preliminary investigation, the man bore a grudge against his ex-wife because her domestic violence case against him prevented him from returning to Canada, where he worked at an IT firm.
The accused, in his 30s, also held her responsible for his mother’s death.
The couple got married in 2022 and mutually divorced in 2024. The victim had a second marriage in April 2025, police said.
According to the victim’s current husband, she was three months pregnant. However, the post-mortem report is awaited, and the police are yet to confirm the details.
Why did they separate?
According to the police, the accused went to Canada after their marriage in India, and was soon joined by the deceased.
However, within five days of staying with the accused, the woman techie returned to India and filed a domestic violence case against him.
“Some differences arose between the couple and after staying with him for five days she later returned to India and subsequently filed a domestic violence case against him in Maharashtra,” the police said.
In March 2025, the accused returned to India from Canada following the death of his mother. But because of the case, a look-out circular was issued against him, and his passport was suspended.
Since this prevented him from going back to Canada, he was living in his native place in Telangana’s Peddapalli without any work.
Why did he kill her?
According to police, the accused felt that he and his family faced mental suffering due to the domestic violence case filed by the deceased. He also felt that his mother’s death was due to the mental agony caused by the estranged wife.
The accused developed a grudge against her and decided to eliminate her, police said.
Here’s what happened:
The accused located his ex-wife’s residential address through her social media account. He came to Hyderabad two months ago and stayed in a hostel. Recently, he also “recceed” the victim’s apartment.
As per his plan, he came to the apartment with a bag containing two knives, a drilling machine, a can containing five-liter petrol, among other items.
On the day of the incident, the man barged into the victim’s residence and soon after found her in a room. He locked the room from inside and allegedly stabbed her multiple times on her head with a knife, resulting in her instant death.
The woman’s mother-in-law was reportedly in the verandah of the house at the time of the incident.
The man poured petrol in the room and had locked himself in the washroom when the police, alerted by the victim’s family and neighbours, reached the spot.
He threatened to set the room on fire with a lighter he was carrying. However, after some convincing, he came out of the washroom and was taken into custody, a police official said.
CCTV footage broadcast by local TV channels showed the man carrying a bag and walking in the corridor of the apartment.
