In a gruesome crime that shook the town of Sattenapalli in Andhra's Guntur district, a woman and her daughter were stabbed to death by a close relative on August 28. The deceased have been identified as 55-year-old Koneru Padmavathi and her daughter Lakshmi Prathysha, 30. The incident took place at Padmavathi's residence in Nagarjunanagar area of the town.
The police investigation pointed to an alleged property dispute over six acres of land, between Padmavathi’s family and the accused Srinivasa Rao, as being the motive behind the crime. The latter is Padmavathi’s nephew, he is the son of her late husband Koneru Shiva Prasad Rao's sibling Madhusudhan Rao.
Reports in regional media said that following the demise of Shiva Prasad Rao, Srinivasa Rao, who works as a lorry driver, had been allegedly fighting with Padmavathi and her family. He was claiming that his family too, had a share in the six acres of land owned by Shiva Prasad Rao.
On Saturday evening, the accused barged into Padmavathi’s house and allegedly started arguing with her and her daughter. According to police the accused stabbed them both following this.
Sattenapalli Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP), Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy, in a briefing about the incident said, "Around 7.20 pm, two women were stabbed to death by Srinivasa Rao, the deceased are his cousin and aunt. He apparently came here to talk about a land dispute and following a heated argument he is said to have stabbed them to death."
The DySP said that a murder case was registered pertaining to the incident while stating, "we will also investigate the land dispute and other issues between the accused and deceased that led to this."
While reports suggest that the accused has surrendered himself before the local police, authorities are yet to confirm his arrest.
Earlier, last week, a third-year female engineering student was killed by her stalker in broad daylight in Guntur. The incident triggered protests seeking justice for the victim.