Apsara murder: Accused priest’s wife claims killing was unintentional, Sai Krishna remanded

HYDERABAD: Sravya, the wife of priest Sai Krishna, who allegedly murdered Apsara, a small-time actress and a devotee with whom he had an extramarital affair, stoutly defended her husband and said that ‘the killing was unintentional’. Sai Krishna, the man at the centre of one of the most cold-blooded murders in recent times, was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by a Hyderabad court.

Drama prevailed at the Shamshabad police station on Friday night when Sai Krishna reportedly broke down and sobbed inconsolably. He is said to have expressed his desire to end his life, claiming that he was innocent and that he was dragged into the entire mess. Following his remand, he was shifted to the Cherlapally jail where he would be lodged till June 22, 2023.

Earlier, speaking to a section of the media, Sai Krishna’s wife Sravya claimed that her husband was innocent. She alleged that he was trapped and was being falsely implicated in the case.

Sravya, who has a four-year-old daughter from Sai Krishna, said that her husband was not such a cruel person to murder a woman and insinuated that the incident could have happened impulsively as a fallout of the torture by Apsara.

She maintained that her husband was a good-natured and well-behaved person and always spoke good about others. Navya said that the same thing happened with the deceased. She said that Sai Krishna faced torture from the deceased Apsara and out of anger the murder could have occurred accidentally.

Sravya also responded to the claims of Apsara's house owner and her mother who said that Sai Krishna used to visit her at her house even in the nights. Rubbishing the claims, Sravya questioned how Apsara’s mother could not object to a person coming to their house at odd times. Sravya claimed that Apsara was suffering from a chronic disease.

Meanwhile, accused Sai Krishna was produced in Rajendranagar court, which remanded him for 14 days, till June 22, 2023, in judicial custody. The case against Sai Krishna was registered under IPC sections 302 and 201. As the accused claimed that Apsara was pregnant, the police are waiting for the autopsy report. If this claim is proven right in the autopsy findings, then Sai Krishna may be slapped with a few more sections for culpable homicide of an unborn child.

Sai Krishna backtracks, says never had physical relationship with Apsara

According to reports, Sai Krishna has been coming up with contradictory statements in response to the questions posed by the police in connection with the case. Based on his confession on Friday, the police revealed the entire sequence of events leading to the gruesome murder of Apsara and how he managed to cover up the killing and attempted to portray it as a missing case. After admitting to having extramarital affair with Apsara and claiming that she was pregnant, he reportedly backtracked from his statement on Saturday.

He was learnt to have claimed on Saturday that he never had a physical relationship with Apsara and sought to distance himself from her pregnancy, a revelation he made to the police on Friday. Sai Krishna is also understood to have claimed that Apsara was in a relationship with a person based in Chennai.  

The young priest also reportedly created a scene at the Shamshabad police station on Friday night. Crying incosolably, he reportedly expressed his desire to end his life and claimed that he was innocent. On Saturday morning, soon after he was remanded to judicial custody, he reportedly told the media that he was harassed and tortured by Apsara in the name of marriage. Sai Krishna alleged that she even tried to blackmail him, threatening to leak intimate pictures and videos featuring both of them.