Court convicts Meerut woman, lover for staging husband's murder as snakebite

A Meerut court convicted a woman and her alleged lover for killing her husband and staging a snakebite. The verdict turned on forensic findings and phone records that exposed the cover-up.Meerut court convicts wife, lover for staging husband’s murder as snakebite. (Source: ITG)Meerut,Oct 7, 2026 20:24 ISTA court in Meerut on Wednesday convicted a woman and her alleged lover for the murder of her husband, holding that they killed him together and then tried to make it look like he had died of a snakebite. The court will pronounce the sentence on October 16.According to the prosecution, the case came to light after Amit Kashyap alias Mikky was found dead at his house on April 12, 2025. While his family first suspected snakebite, the investigation later concluded that he had died of asphyxia, leading police to treat the case as murder.The prosecution said a snake was found trapped under Amit's body and was caught and kept in a container. However, snake charmers called to examine it said there was no venom sac beneath its fangs and that the sac had been removed, making it impossible for the reptile to have caused the death.Suspicion grew further after injuries were found on Amit's neck and scratch marks resembling fingernail marks were noticed on his body. A post-mortem examination later found that he had died of asphyxia and not snakebite. During the investigation, police found that Ravita and her neighbour Amardeep were in a relationship. The prosecution said the two strangled Amit and then placed the snake near his body to pass off the death as a snakebite. Police later questioned the person who had allegedly provided the snake, after which Ravita and Amardeep were arrested and sent to jail.Police filed a charge sheet running to more than 500 pages, and the prosecution examined over a dozen witnesses. Additional District Government Counsel Farzana said the post-mortem report and mobile phone call records were among the key pieces of evidence. She said Ravita and Amardeep continued to remain in touch after Amit's death and spoke more than 70 times over four days. The prosecution said the mobile number used by Amardeep to contact Ravita was registered in the name of one Sonu of Jagriti Vihar, and Sonu told the court that he did not use the number and did not know either of them. Investigators also found that Amardeep had obtained the SIM card in another person's name. The prosecution said more than 500 calls between the two were recorded from that number. Ravita has remained in custody since her arrest, while Amardeep is out on bail. Ravita came to court with her face covered when the verdict was delivered. She did not respond when mediapersons tried to speak to her. Amit's mother was present in court, while no one from the accused's side was there.The verdict has come amid another high-profile murder case in Meerut involving a wife and her alleged lover. In the Saurabh Rajput case, a court has convicted his wife Muskan Rastogi and her alleged lover Sahil Shukla after the prosecution said they killed him and hid his body in a blue drum filled with cement. The court in that case is scheduled to pronounce the sentence on October 14, while the sentencing in Amit Kashyap's murder case will be announced on October 16.- EndsWith PTI and Mohd. Usman Chaudhary inputs