Man accused of murdering mother of two in Melbourne’s east

A man has faced court accused of killing his partner in a Vermont home with two children inside.

Srinivas Achanta, 39, is charged with the murder of Lavanya Chappa, 39, after police were called to reports of a stabbing in a Delatite Court house just before 10pm on Tuesday.

Chappa was found dead inside the home, and Achanta was taken to hospital under police guard before homicide detectives formally charged him with one count of murder on Thursday afternoon.

“Two children in the house were not physically injured during the incident,” police said in a statement late on Thursday.

“Police believe the parties involved were known to each other.”

The alleged murderer appeared in the dock at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court just after 10.30am on Friday.

Magistrate Frances Medina did not read out custody management issues submitted in writing by Achanta’s lawyer, Alex Wolf. She remanded Achanta in custody to appear again for a committal mention on November 7.

A crime scene was set up for much of Wednesday on the usually quiet residential court in Melbourne’s east where the alleged murder took place.

Property records show Srinivas Achanta bought the Delatite Court house where Chappa was found dead for $1.4 million in early 2024.

A LinkedIn profile – believed to be that of the accused – shows he relocated from Singapore to take up a job in Melbourne in February 2024. The account suggests he was originally from India.

Little is known about the victim. Neighbours who spoke to The Age on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive matter said the family had largely kept to themselves.

One woman said she had seen the mother of two perform school pick-up runs nearby. Another two residents said they had sometimes seen a man and a young boy from the house playing cricket in the street.

The home where the alleged murder occurred had its shutters drawn and was quiet on Thursday after police left the night before.

A child’s chalk drawing remained scrawled on the driveway, and several pairs of shoes could be seen beside the front door.

Brett Czarny, a nearby resident for more than 25 years, said he had found out something was wrong only when he heard police cars fly past late on Tuesday towards the house.

“We never heard from them … We probably did see him drive past occasionally, but never really took much notice,” he said.

“It’s very unfortunate incident that that’s happened ... I feel very sad for the family. I believe there’s two kids involved as well, so I feel very sad for them, and obviously the poor lady that has lost her life.”

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