India man jailed for killing wife with cobra in Kerala

An Indian man, who was convicted for killing his wife by making a cobra bite her, has been punished with a rare double life sentence.

Sooraj Kumar was arrested last year after his wife, Uthra, died from a snakebite.

Police began investigating after her family alleged murder, saying Sooraj had been harassing them for dowry.

On Monday, a court found him guilty of releasing a cobra onto the bed while Uthra slept.

The 25-year-old homemaker was found dead in her home in May last year.

Her family became suspicious because Uthra had been bitten by a Russell's viper just weeks earlier. She was recovering from the first snakebite when she was attacked by the cobra.

Police said their investigation pointed to Sooraj being behind both attempts. They also arrested a man who had helped him procure the snakes - he later turned "approver" and helped police piece together the case.

According to LiveLaw, an Indian legal website, police charges ran into 1,000 pages and detailed the elaborate conspiracy planned and implemented by Sooraj.

The prosecution had argued that it was a "rarest of rare cases" and demanded the death penalty for the accused.

The magistrate agreed that it was a rare case and awarded a double life sentence to Sooraj and also ordered him to pay a fine of 500,000 rupees ($6,635; £4,869).