The woman, Bhuvaneswari, had been reported missing and her husband, Maramreddy Sreekanth Reddy, is now accused of killing her.

Days after a charred corpse was found in a suitcase in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati, the police have identified it as the body of a 27-year-old techie, an employee of Cognizant in Hyderabad.

The woman, Bhuvaneswari, had been reported missing and her husband, Maramreddy Sreekanth Reddy, is now accused of killing her.

The couple was living in Tirupati with their 18-month-old daughter as Bhuvaneswari was working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sreekanth Reddy, an engineer by education, was associated with an online organisation that fights corruption. He has been unemployed for the last few months.

Tirupati Urban police chief Ramesh Reddy said investigation indicates that Bhuvaneswari was murdered.

“The body was 90 per cent burnt. Sreekanth bought a big suitcase at Reliance Mart and that is suspected to have been used for the purpose of packing the body. He later tried to burn the body,” he said.

CCTV footage shows Sreekanth bringing in a suitcase into their apartment complex, holding his toddler-daughter with one hand, and rolling the big, red suitcase with the other.

Later he is seen struggling to hold the baby and also rolling the now apparently heavy suitcase out.

The police have sent samples for forensic examination. Every part of the body had been burnt except some bones and the skull.Sreekanth is reported to have told relatives that his wife died of Covid. The relatives then visited several hospitals and morgues looking for her.