A man has been arrested for killing his wife in front of their toddler daughter and burning her body before passing her death off as a COVID-19 case.

Sreekanth Reddy, aged 30, told his family and her relatives in Andhra Pradesh that his wife had died of COVID-19. Family members then visited numerous hospitals and morgues trying to find her.

When they failed to do so, they contacted the police who reviewed CCTV footage in the area and discovered the moment he apparently removed her body from the house using a large red suitcase.

Still carrying his daughter in his arms he then got into a taxi and dumped the body in bushes near the Sri Venkata Ramana Ruia (SVRR) government hospital.

Police also arrested the taxi driver for helping him dump the corpse.

They so when the body of 27-year-old M Bhuvaneshwari was found so badly charred that it was almost unrecognisable.

Police spokesperson Ramesh Reddy explained: “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.”

Reddy added: “The body was 90 percent burned.”

The couple, who married in 2019, lived in Tirupati with their young daughter, who police believe most probably witnessed the murder.

Before her death, Bhuvaneswari worked from home during the pandemic while the suspect, an IT technician working with a firm in Hyderabad, had been laid off some months previously. The couple reportedly argued frequently after he started drinking heavily when he lost his job.

The victim’s remains have been sent for forensic analysis. Every part of the burned body was found except the skull and a few bones, according to reports.

The investigation is ongoing.