Man Accused of Dismembering Wife and 'Boiling' Her Remains: Police

Content warning: The following article contains disturbing descriptions.

An ex-army service member in southern India was arrested after allegedly admitting he killed his wife and boiled her body parts. 

The victim, 39-year-old Smt. Putta Venkata Madhavi, was reported missing on Jan. 18 by her mother in a village 40 miles from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, according to Rachakonda police. 

Her husband Putta Guru Murthy, 39, allegedly confessed to “murdering her” and “attempting to dispose of the evidence in a shocking manner,” Rachakonda police said in their statement on Tuesday, Jan. 28. 

During their investigation, police retrieved CCTV footage showing Madhavi going into her residence with Murthy on Jan. 15, but saw no evidence of her exiting the home at any point, which “clearly shows the accused might have murdered his wife inside of the house,” police claimed.

On Tuesday, nearly two weeks since Madhavi was last seen, police brought Murthy in for questioning, and he allegedly admitted to killing his wife and boiling her body parts, per the statement. 

He allegedly told police the couple got into an argument on the morning of Jan. 16, and he slapped her “with the intent to kill her” before strangling her. When he realized she was no longer alive, he allegedly said he tried to cover up her death by cutting her limbs into pieces, putting them in a bucket and boiling them before burning them on a gas stove, per Rachakonda police. 

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Police allege that Murthy spent eight hours destroying evidence, including grinding her bones into powder and flushing some remains, while keeping others in the house for later disposal.

“He murdered his wife inhumanly,” police alleged. 

Murthy has been arrested on charges of murder; cruelty to a married woman by husband or in-law; and tampering with evidence, according to the police statement. 

PEOPLE was not immediately able to reach an attorney for him.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.