MUNDGOD (UTTARA KANNADA) : The Uttara Kannada police cracked a mysterious murder case in which the headless body of an old woman was found in the forests of Mundgod last month. The accused was arrested on Thursday. DNA analysis and clues from an old murder case reported from Soraba taluk helped in identification and nabbing of the accused.
About a month ago, the torso of an old woman, almost nude, was found in the forests near Malagi village in Mundgod taluk of Uttara Kannada.
“The victim, Shivakka Patil (80), lived alone in Maaligi village, Mundgod taluk. She was killed by her neighbour Krishnappa Sidappa Medar, who came to stay with his in-laws in Maligi,” SP Uttara Kannada Deepan told TNIE.
Shivakka owned a grocery shop. Medar set his eyes on the old woman’s gold jewellery. He lured her claiming to take her to a doctor to get treated for age-related respiratory problems. Medar had already served a term in jail for a murder in his hometown, Soraba. To ensure nobody saw him, he asked the old woman to walk for some distance and then took her on a bike. “He had done almost everything to mislead the investigation. He left his mobile phone at home and hired a bike by depositing Rs 1,000. He slit her throat in the forest and decamped with the gold jewellery".
"The incident occurred on February 20, 2026. We found the victim's body without the head. It was a challenge for us. Even the villagers informed us about the missing woman in Malagi. The accused had burnt the clothes and dumped the head in Shivapura forests near Hangal. We sent the body for a post-mortem and the DNA samples to a forensic science laboratory for confirmation,” the SP informed.
The accused is booked for murder. About 50 gm of gold jewellery hidden in the wall of a house was recovered from him.