A man has allegedly murdered his 20-year-old pregnant wife, who was a YouTuber, in Madhapur village in Jagtial district near Hyderabad, Telangana.
C Vaishnavi, who was three months pregnant, had a fan following on YouTube with around 50,000 subscribers. She was known for her family vlogs. She also had 91K followers on Instagram.
Days before her death, she had posted a 9-minute video detailing a doctor's visit. She had announced she was pregnant a month ago in a video with her husband.
In her last video she told her subscribers, "I am pregnant; the scan went well today. I am unable to make reels now, but will be back soon.”
Police officials say that Vaishnavi was found covered in a pool of her own blood on Monday morning, the Indian Express reported. Vaishnavi's mother and aunt had reportedly seen her husband running out of the room and speeding away on his motorcycle before they found her body.
Police said that Hari killed his wife by strangling her throat and then slashing her face with a knife.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (Metpalli) A Ramulu said “She had stab wounds on her neck and chest, and there were signs that she was first strangled. Her husband, Hari Babu, is the prime accused. He is absconding.”
Her husband, Gandam Hari (In some reports, C Hariprasad), 24, who is the prime suspect, had been absconding since the incident.
The victim's father, C Durga Prasad has filed an formal complaint at the Korutla police station.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the two had a fight late at night on Monday, during which Hari allegedly committed the crime.
Korutla circle inspector Suresh Babu said that the couple had married despite Hari's family opposing their relationship. “She and her neighbour fell in love a few years ago. Although they both belong to the same community, his family opposed their relationship."
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The couple had been married for 10 months. "Due to arguments with her in-laws, the couple moved to Vaishnavi’s home and were living in a separate room. She was three to four months pregnant,” he added.
The couple had ammased tens of thousands of views on videos of their relationship which they made together and posted on Vaishnavi’s YouTube channel and Instagram page.
The victims father said that her sucess had become a source of friction with her husband. He had also stated Vaishnavi was being harassed for dowry by her husband and her mother-in law and brother in law.
Investigators are now probing the alleged involvement of the accused person’s family members in aiding and abetting the crime. Hari works at a local private hospital.