Telugu man Avinash Narne arrested in US for murder of wife Sabbineni Rajitha

A 30-year-old Telugu man, Avinash Narne, has been arrested by police in the US state of Washington on charges of murdering his wife, Sabbineni Rajitha. The arrest came nearly eight months after the 27-year-old victim was found dead inside the bathroom of the couple's apartment at Woodland Commons in downtown Bellevue.

Narne was arrested by the Bellevue Police Department on June 27 and has been charged with first-degree murder. He is currently being held in the King County Jail on a bail set at $5 million.

According to investigators, Rajitha was found unresponsive inside the locked bathroom of their apartment on October 27, 2025. Despite lifesaving attempts by the Bellevue Fire Department, she was pronounced dead at the scene. Narne initially claimed to officers that he returned home from work and found his wife on the floor.

The couple had married in June 2025 through an arranged marriage and moved into the apartment shortly afterward. While the case was initially treated as a suspicious death, the King County Medical Examiner later ruled it a homicide, concluding that Rajitha died from strangulation.

During a months-long investigation, detectives analyzed electronic door lock records, mobile phone data, and WhatsApp messages. Investigators found no evidence that anyone other than Narne entered the apartment around the time of Rajitha’s death. Police also alleged that Narne was involved in a secret romantic relationship with another woman from India while married.

Court documents revealed messages where Rajitha complained to Narne about her drinks tasting bitter. On the day she died, she told him that a smoothie he made tasted like "medicine" and "cough syrup."

Detectives identified Narne as the prime suspect after he made statements during interviews that only someone present at the scene would know, including mentioning a deleted photograph of his wife's body. He was taken into custody following a follow-up interview and faces a lengthy prison sentence if convicted.