BENGALURU: The body of a 61-year-old woman, who had been missing for nearly a week, was found stuffed inside a suitcase dumped in Ramohalli Lake under the Kumbalagodu police station limits on Tuesday. Police retrieved the body and suspect it to be a case of murder for gain, as the victim’s gold jewellery was missing. The deceased has been identified as Jayamma (61), a resident of Challaghatta near the BMTC Depot. Although the body had not fully decomposed, the head was in an advanced stage of decomposition, exposing the skull. Injury marks were also found on her chest.
According to police, Jayamma’s son, Jai Kumar (42), filed a missing person complaint with the Kumbalagodu police on July 16. He stated that he lived in Challaghatta with his wife, two children and his mother, while his father, Boregowda, lived separately in Rajajinagar.
He said Jayamma had left their house at around 3.35 pm on July 15 and never returned. Despite searching for her at the houses of relatives and friends, as well as in nearby areas, the family could not trace her and approached the police.
Police retrieved the suitcase and shifted the body for postmortem. Preliminary investigations suggest that gases produced during decomposition caused the suitcase to float to the surface, exposing the victim’s hands.
A senior officer said the victim’s mangalsutra, ring and earrings were missing, prompting investigators to suspect murder for gain. Police said they are probing the case from all angles and are analysing CCTV footage.