MYSURU: Nanjangud rural police have cracked a spine-chilling murder case by arresting three speech and hearing impaired people.
The murder came to light when Savita, a speech and hearing impaired woman from Devarammanahallipalya village, filed a police complaint on March 4, stating that her husband Swamy, also speech and hearing impaired, went missing on February 12.
The police, who registered a missing person’s case, launched an investigation. With no verbal testimonies to rely on, the police turned to digital clues. An analysis of the couple’s mobile phones revealed a series of video calls with clues to the case.
The investigation led the police to Srinivasa, 37, and Gangadhara, 23, both from Tumakuru district, who are also speech and hearing impaired.
Soon, a disturbing story of love, betrayal and murder emerged during a painstaking interrogation with the help of sign language experts.
Srinivasa befriended Savita and was in touch with her through video calls. Soon, he fell in love with her. As their affair continued, Srinivasa lent money to Swamy. Swamy, who learnt of his wife’s affair with Srinivasa, objected to it. He also did not repay the money he had borrowed from Srinivasa. Enraged by Swamy’s act, Srinivasa allegedly plotted to murder him.
On February 12, Swamy was lured to Amruthur by Srinivasa, who promised to pay him more money. After having liquor, Swamy was taken to a farm near Hosapura village from Amruthur. There, Srinivasa, along with Gangadhara and another accomplice, who is also speech and hearing impaired, allegedly assaulted Swamy, who succumbed to injuries.
The trio then tied a stone to Swamy’s body and threw it into a well. On April 7, the police recovered the decomposed body from the well. Swamy’s mother identified his remains. A motorcycle and mobile phones used by the accused and other items were also recovered.
The accused have been remanded in judicial custody.
The police said the case posed a big challenge to them due to the communication barrier. However, they managed to crack it with the help of technology and sign language experts.