The Hyderabad man who slit his ex-girlfriend's throat before stabbing her nine times at a London restaurant in 2022 was looking for ways to “kill a human being instantly with a knife”, his online search history shows.
Sriram Ambarla, a 25-year-old from Hyderabad, attacked his ex-girlfriend Sona Biju, 23, at the restaurant where she worked after he threatened to kill her if she did not marry him.
When Mrs Biju rejected him saying she “didn't want to live by his rules”, Ambarla grabbed her by the neck and started stabbing her. She survived the brutal attack but had to spend a month in a critical condition in a hospital.
Ambarla was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison in London.
During his sentencing hearing, the court was told that just before Ambarla attacked he searched online for 'What happens if a foreigner kills someone in Britain', 'How easy is it to kill someone with a knife' and “How do you kill a person instantly with a knife.”
'Jealous, possessive and determined'
The 2022 attack came after Ambarla manipulated and physically and mentally abused Ms Biju for years, the court was told. The two started dating in 2017 after meeting at a college in Hyderabad.
However, the relationship soon turned violent, leading to their split around 2019, during which Ambarla used threats of self-harm to control Ms Biju. He repeatedly showed up unexpectedly at her home and tried to blackmail her into marrying him, the victim said.
In 2022, both Ambarla and Ms Biju moved to Britain in 2022 to pursue a master's degree at the University of East London, but the abuse continued. Ambarla regularly contacted the restaurant where she worked to talk to her and order food in the hope that she would deliver it to his home.
Weeks after they moved, he visited the restaurant, where Mrs. Biju served him food and treated him like any other customer. He sat there looking through his phone in a disturbing manner, she said.
Moments later he approached her and repeated his offer to marry her or he would kill her. When she refused, he took a knife and stabbed her repeatedly. He told police he snapped when he heard her talking about wanting to celebrate the breakup.