Karimnagar: Man formerly convicted for killing wife abandons kids for new partner days after reuniting with them

The man also asked the children to get his name removed from their Aadhaar cards and from wherever his name was mentioned in their certificates, since "there was no relation between them".

Karimnagar: Their reunion with their father was celebrated by the local media a few days ago, but on Tuesday, the lives of siblings Puja, 19, and Bunny, 17, were back to square one, with both being forced to return to the orphanage where they had spent the last 14 years of their life.

Fate had begun playing the lives of Puja and Bunny in 2010, when their mother Sathamma was killed by their father Soma Saraiah during an argument between the two at their home in Venkateshwaralapalli of Jammikunta mandal. The only eye-witness to the murder was Puja, who was five years old then, and taking her evidence into consideratin, the court convicted Saraiah and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

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Moved by the plight of the children, the then Jammikunta CI Sundaragi Srinivasa Rao had admitted them to the Spandana orphanage in Jammikunta, where they lived for the last 14 years besides continuing their education. Puja is now a degree student, while Bunny is pursuing his intermediate studies. Life appeared to change for them earlier this month, when Saraiah was released from jail on July 3, when the State government granted remission to 213 prisoners. On July 5, he reached the orphanage, which witnessed a happy reunion and they shifted to a rented house in Jammikunta.

On July 8, Saraiah is said to have left for Hyderabad saying that he was summoned by prison authorities. The next day, he called the children and told them that he would be staying back in Hyderabad and marrying another woman. That was not all. He also asked the children to get his name removed from their Aadhaar cards and from wherever his name was mentioned in their certificates, since “there was no relation between them”. Even before the children could respond, he disconnected the call. Shocked over Saraiah’s action, the children returned to the orphanage on Wednesday, back to where they were ever since the death of their mother.