An Indian national from Texas has been sentenced to 56 months in prison and three years of supervised release on the charges of kidnapping and stalking his then wife. Sunil K Akula, 32, faces deportation to India upon completion of his sentence. Last November, he pleaded guilty to the charges of kidnapping, stalking, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

According to federal prosecutors, on August 6, 2019, Akula travelled from his home in Texas to Agawam, Massachusetts to confront his then wife, from whom he was living apart. He subsequently assaulted his wife and forced her to leave her apartment and get into a car with him, stating that he was taking her back to Texas. Akula then drove his wife through multiple states, during which time he again assaulted her, forced her to send a resignation e-mail to her employer, and smashed her laptop and threw it on the side of the highway.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Akula stopped at a Knox County, Tennessee hotel, where he again beat his wife. Akula later opened the door to leave the hotel room and was arrested by local law enforcement officers.While Akula was held in custody, he made phone calls to family in India instructing them to contact his wife's father to convince her to withdraw her statements to law enforcement, a media release said.