Shruthi called cousin before committing suicide, say police

BENGALURU: Minutes before Shruthi Gowda (29) committed suicide, she had called her cousin in Bengaluru and asked them to forgive her for creating “the worst situation”, said a police officer. She had also told the cousin that she was ending her life, the officer added.

On Friday, Amith Keshavamurthy (34) was shot dead by Shruthi’s husband Rajesh Gopalkrishna and father-in-law Gopalakrishna Gowda when Amith and Shruthi were in her car near Acharya College. Shruthi later committed suicide by hanging at a lodge.

According to police, on Friday afternoon, Shruthi’s husband Rajesh had called her. She told him that she would return home early to prepare for Makara Sankranti. She later called him saying she had to attend a meeting and would be late. She asked him not to disturb her while the meeting is on and also sent a photo of a previous meeting, the officer added.

During the probe, police found that if Shruthi’s phone was busy, Rajesh would call Amith’s phone to check if they were talking to each other. Rajesh had forced her to show her text messages and found that she had been texting Amith. The couple had fought several times over this issue, police said.

Police said Shruthi and Rajesh got married when she was a PUC student. He encouraged her to study further and she completed her degree. Shruthi worked as a panchayat development officer. The couple have two children. She was also preparing for Karnataka Administrative Services exam, said police.

The incident has come as a shock to many of Amith’s friends. Speaking to Express, a friend of his said, “Amith and I studied together in KLE College and later he went to Melbourne. He was a very responsible and polished person.  He was very ambitious as well. I was shaken after the incident. If there was an issue, the families should have talked to each other to solve it instead of killing him.”