Washington:A 30-year-old Indian software engineer allegedly strangled his wife to death in the United States just four months after their arranged marriage inside their apartment in Washington and then sent a photograph of her body to his alleged girlfriend in India, according to US local media reports.
The victim, 27-year-old Raajitha Sabbineni, was the wife of Avinash Narne, a software development engineer from Telangana. She was found dead in October 2025. An extensive investigation has apparently uncovered evidence of a planned murder and Narne has now been arrested and charged while it is also said that he was maintaining a secret romantic relationship with another woman in India.
Local media cited charging documents saying Narne sent a photo of Sabbineni’s body to his girlfriend the day after she died and spoke with her four times on the day of the alleged murder.
It was a big case on Monday, when Avinash Narne was charged with first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty in a court in Washington state.
US local media reported that the judge rejected Narne’s plea to hide his face from television cameras, ordered him to surrender his passport and kept his bail at USD 5 million (around Rs 48 crore). The Indian national could be sentenced to life in prison if found guilty, according to Washington state law.
Wife found dead in bathroomLocal US media reports, citing court documents, said Avinash Narne called 911 on October 27, 2025, saying his wife was locked in the bathroom and unresponsive, prompting Bellevue police to go to Woodland Commons Apartments.
Officers entered the apartment and found Sabbineni on the floor in the bathroom. First responders tried to revive her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators said Narne at first told them he had “come home and found this situation.”
The couple was said to have been married off just four months before the body of Sabbineni was found.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office later determined Sabbineni died of asphyxia due to strangulation, prompting Bellevue police to upgrade the investigation from a suspicious death to a homicide investigation.
Investigators also allege Narne was secretly involved with another woman in India at the time of his wife's death. The probe found that Narne was in touch with his alleged girlfriend even immediately after the incident.
How did the police decode the case?Investigators said the murder case was largely built on digital evidence. Police cited WhatsApp chats, electronic door-lock records and other digital evidence in the probable cause documents, according to local media reports in the US.
Investigators said electronic records showed no one but Narne entering the apartment around the time Sabbineni died.
The reports also say that Narne voluntarily brought up a deleted photo of his wife’s body when questioned — a detail investigators have called a critical piece of the evidence trail.
Prosecutors say the digital trail points to a premeditated killing, but Narne has denied any role in his wife’s death.
The case, which involved allegations that Narne killed his wife, was not about his identity, the judge said during Monday’s hearing. The court also ordered him to turn over his passport and kept his bail at $5 million.
Narne is in jail in King County as the case heads to trial.
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