Parents Admit To Hiring Killers To Murder Unemployed, Alcoholic Son

A man holding a gun — Representational image Skitterphoto/Pixabay

KEY POINTS

A group killed a 26-year-old man in India on Oct. 18 and dumped his body in a river
The hitmen were hired by the victim's parents to carry out the murder for around $9,675
The victim allegedly beat and abused his parents in the past when they refused to give booze money

A couple in India confessed to hiring a group to kill their unemployed son for nearly $10,000, according to authorities.

Kshatriya Ram Singh and his wife Rani Bai were arrested Monday in connection to the death of their 26-year-old college dropout son, Sai Ram, the Times of India reported.

Ram, an unemployed alcoholic who allegedly used to beat and abuse his parents whenever they refused to give him money for liquor, was found dead on Oct. 19 after his body was dumped in the Musi River along Suryapet.

Singh and Bai had approached the latter's brother, Satyanarayana, to kill Ram, according to Huzurabad circle inspector Rama Linga Reddy.

Satyanarayana was reportedly able to rope in four people, identified as R Ravi, D Dharma, P Nagaraju, D Sai and B Rambabu, from the city of Miryalaguda, to carry out the murder.

Ram's parents agreed to pay Rs 8 lakh ($9,675) for the crime, with Rs 1.5 lakh ($1,815) being paid in advance and the remaining balance to be sent three days after the killing.

Satyanarayana and Ravi took Ram to a temple in the village of Kallepalli, where they met the other accused.

"All had liquor, and after Sai Ram got drunk, he was strangled with a rope. The killers later dumped the body in [the] Musi," Reddy said.

Singh and Bai never lodged a missing person complaint, but police were led to them after the family's car was spotted on surveillance footage being used in Ram's murder.

The two were also found to have used the same vehicle to go to the mortuary to identify Ram on Oct. 25.

They divulged the story upon being interrogated.

In addition to Singh and Bai, four of the men who were hired to kill Ram have also been arrested. The remaining suspect is currently absconding, according to the report.

Singh, who is the principal of a government school, was remanded to judicial custody Monday along with Bai and the others.

Prior to his death, Ram was sent to a rehabilitation center in the city of Hyderabad, but that did not help, according to family members.