BENGALURU: A 22-year-old woman and her lover, who had eloped from their village in Tumakuru, ended their lives after learning that the woman’s mother had committed suicide. Her mother had committed suicide after learning about their elopement. The deceased are identified as Venugopal (26), a tax collector in a gram panchayat and his lover Divya, (22), a BA student. They were natives of Huliyurdurga in Tumakuru.
A senior police officer said, “The incident took place around 6.30 am and Mahalakshmi, the owner of the house where they stayed, found their bodies hanging and alerted Kaggalipura police.
Venugopal and Divya had left their native on Saturday morning and reached the city in the evening. Venugopal contacted his friend Shashidhar, a marketing executive in a private firm and sought for his help. He told his friend that he is near Kengeri and asked him to arrange a room. Shashidhar took them to his elder sister Mahalakshmi’s house and convinced her that they would leave early in the morning. She agreed for it and Divya slept in her room while Venugopal and Shashidhar slept in an another room outside the house.”
Around 5.30am, Mahalakshmi woke Divya up and asked her to get ready to leave the house while she went to the terrace to wash clothes. Meanwhile, Venugopal made a call to his father Byrashetty to know the situation at his home. His father scolded him and informed that Divya’s mother Shanthamma, (42) had committed suicide. Venugopal disconnected the call and told Divya about her mother’s death. “Upset over this, both of them hanged themselves. However, they left no suicide note,” the police officer said.
Mahalakshmi said, “I came down from the terrace and repeatedly knocked at the door. When there was no response, I peeped through the window and found them hanging. I immediately called my brother who had left for work and informed him about the incident. Then, Kaggalipura police rushed to the spot and conducted a spot mahazar. They left no suicide note but Venugopal had used my mobile to make a phone call to his father and the mobile was kept in the hall. I was not aware that they had eloped. Venugopal had told me that Divya was his niece and had come to the city for some work”.