Spurned in love: Andhra Pradesh tops India’s crime charts in murders linked to illicit affairs

Visakhapatnam: Illicit relationships seem to be ending in cold revenge in Andhra Pradesh, with the state topping the country’s crime charts in murders linked to such affairs.According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Andhra Pradesh registered 195 murders linked to illicit relationships, including extramarital affairs, in 2024 — the highest in the country.Though the overall number of murders in the state marginally dropped from 922 in 2023 to 898 in 2024, the situation remained grim as the number of murders driven by illicit affairs and sexual jealousy rose from 156 in 2023 to 195 the following year.Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra stood second with each recording 166 such murders, followed by Karnataka (120), Madhya Pradesh (120), Telangana (98), Bihar (77), and Uttar Pradesh (74). Meanwhile, disputes related to family, property, and money were the prime motives in most murder cases in Andhra Pradesh. A total of 448 murders were reported under the ‘disputes’ category in 2024, including 199 due to family disputes, followed by petty disputes (136), property/land/money disputes (54), water disputes (5), and other motives (108).The vengeance of a spurned partner in a marriage and the vendetta of a rejected lover in a premarital relationship have spilled more blood in the state. Andhra Pradesh records at least 70 to 80 murders a month, with sexual jealousy being the motive behind at least 30% of the cases. In some cases, the woman and her paramour hired supari gangs to eliminate the husband, the report stated.Police and psychiatrists attribute the growing number of murders driven by sexual jealousy to societal values and the basic personality of the individual. Murders linked to illicit relationships occurred due to sudden provocation, with most killings carried out by the partner to eliminate a cheating spouse and the paramour.There were many cases wherein a spouse was killed by the ‘cheating’ better half to secure the relationship with the paramour, the report added.