Kiran Reddy, niece of Union minister S. Jaipal Reddy, was murdered by her drunken husband S. Chaitanya Reddy in a fit of rage after an argument over his behaviour at a party. Chaitanya was arrested by the Jubilee Hills police here on Wednesday on the basis of the post mortem report which said that he had smothered her to death on the night of June 17.
Kiran Reddy, 29, was the daughter of businessman K. Raghottam Reddy and Ms Bharathi, the elder sister of Mr Jaipal Reddy. Kiran Reddy, a dermatologist, had married Chaitanya, a doctor, about five years ago and the couple stayed at Nyaya Vihar in Jubilee Hills. They have a four-year-old daughter.
On June 17, Chaitanya and Kiran went to the bachelor’s party organised by her brother, Sunil Reddy, at a restaurant in Jubilee Hills.
According to the Jubilee Hills inspector Narsing Rao, “After the party, at around 1 am, while they were having dinner, the restaurant management turned off the lights when the police reached the spot as it was open even after 1 am. Chaitanya Reddy, who was under the influence of alcohol as he had taken 11 pegs of alcohol, including eight pegs of whisky and three vodka shots, asked the management to switch on the lights. When they didn’t, Chaitanya picked up a quarrel with manager Srinivas and hurled abuses at him.”
West zone DCP M. Stephen Ravindra said, “As the situation turned ugly, Kiran Reddy and her relatives apologised to the manager and took him out of there. On their way home, Kiran allegedly reprimanded Chaitanya saying that he embarrassed her in front of their relatives and friends.”
“They reached home at 1.15 am and Kiran called her brother and informed him that they reached home safely and that she was sleeping in another room. Chaitanya went there and asked her to come back to their room, but she refused saying that she didn’t like what he had done in the restaurant,” Mr Ravindra said. A heated argument ensued between the couple again during which Chaitanya pushed Kiran against a wall and she suffered a minor head injury. When Kiran retorted, Chaitanya smothered her using a pillow, though his intention was not to kill her, Mr Ravindra said.
Chaitanya didn’t realise she was dead and went back to his room and slept. “Early on June 18, he walked into her room and found her lying unconscious,” he said.