Hyderabad: A Telugu software engineer has been arrested in the United States in connection with the alleged murder of his wife, nearly eight months after her death was initially reported as a suspicious incident.
The accused, Avinash Narne, was arrested by police in Bellevue, Washington, on June 27. He has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 27-year-old wife, Sabbineni Rajitha. Authorities said he is being held at the King County Jail, with bail set at $5 million.
Investigation Turns Suspicious Death into Murder Case
According to investigators, the couple married in June 2025 and later moved into an apartment in downtown Bellevue.
On October 27, 2025, Rajitha was found unconscious inside the locked bathroom of their apartment. Despite emergency medical efforts, she was declared dead at a nearby hospital.
Initially, Avinash told police that he discovered his wife lying on the bathroom floor after returning home from work. The case was first registered as a suspicious death.
However, the investigation took a significant turn after the post-mortem examination reportedly concluded that Rajitha’s death was a homicide.
Police subsequently carried out an extensive investigation, examining forensic evidence and reviewing activity inside the apartment. Investigators said there was no evidence indicating that anyone other than Avinash had entered the residence around the time of the incident.
Authorities also alleged that Avinash was involved in an extramarital relationship with a woman in India. Investigators claimed he contacted the woman several times shortly after his wife’s death, and those communications have become part of the prosecution’s case.
Avinash appeared before a court on Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge. The court has scheduled the trial to begin on August 24.
The case has attracted widespread attention among the Indian and Telugu communities in the United States as legal proceedings continue.
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