Pregnant Woman Murdered Over ‘Atla Taddi’ Dispute; husband, father-in-law arrested

A pregnant woman, Meghana, was allegedly murdered by her husband N. Pradeep in Lokamudi village of Kaikalur mandal in Eluru district. Her in-laws initially claimed she died of cardiac arrest on February 9.

Meghana, a native of Enikepadu village in NTR district, got married to Pradeep of Lokamudi village last year.

In October 2025, Meghana went to her parents’ house to celebrate the “Atla Taddi” festival. During this period, Pradeep reportedly had an argument with his wife and her parents and said that celebrating ‘Atla Taddi’ was not a tradition that his family followed.

When Pradeep refused to take Meghana back with him, her parents convened a ‘panchayat’ with community elders and village heads. After discussions, Meghana returned to her in-laws’ house a few months later, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) D. Sravan Kumar told Eluru.

Police said Pradeep allegedly developed a grudge against his wife and allegedly suffocated her to death with a pillow on February 9. Subsequently, Pradeep and his father Narasimha Rao allegedly tried to pass off the death as a case of cardiac arrest, Kaikalur Circle Inspector Ravi Kumar said.

Acting on a complaint by Meghan’s parents, who expressed suspicion over their daughter’s death, the Mandavalli police registered a case and sent the samples for forensic examination.

A recently received report from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) confirmed that Meghana died as a result of suffocation and not cardiac arrest.

The police arrested the accused and produced them before the court, which remanded them to judicial custody, the DSP said on Sunday.

Published – 24 May 2026 21:27 IST