Hyderabad Techie Held in US for Wife's Murder Disguised as Suicide

A young Indian couple's life in the United States has ended in tragedy and a criminal case that has gripped Hyderabad. Rajita Sabbineni, a 27-year-old woman originally from Hyderabad, was found dead in her apartment in Bellevue, Washington, on October 27, 2025. At the time, the death appeared to be a suicide.

Her husband, 30-year-old N. Avinash from Secunderabad, was the one who called the police that day. He told officers his wife had locked herself in the bathroom and claimed he was not home when it happened. Based on this account, investigators initially treated the case as a suicide.

But a nine-month investigation changed that conclusion entirely. Detectives came to believe that Avinash himself had strangled Rajita and then tried to make her death look self-inflicted. A key clue was that only Avinash had access to the apartment where she died, which raised suspicions about his version of events.

As the investigation deepened, police uncovered a secret relationship. They allege Avinash had been involved with another woman before his marriage to Rajita was arranged by his parents. He reportedly never told his family about this relationship, and the woman is even said to have attended his wedding in June 2025.

Investigators also found that Avinash had been hiding another major secret from his wife. Although he claimed to be working at a multinational technology company, he had actually lost his job. Rajita, who held a US work visa of her own, is believed to have discovered this deception only after marrying him.

Text messages Rajita sent in the days before her death added another troubling detail. She complained to Avinash that the smoothies he made for her tasted unusually bitter, sometimes comparing the taste to cough syrup. Investigators have not confirmed whether anything harmful was mixed into the drinks.

Police say Avinash later admitted to sending a photograph of his wife's body to his girlfriend after her death. Phone records reportedly showed he called this woman at least four times on the very day Rajita died, further deepening suspicion about his role in the killing.

Avinash was formally arrested on June 27 and appeared in court on July 1. He remains in custody, held on a bond of USD 5 million, as the case against him moves forward in the American justice system.