BENGALURU: Live location shared by a woman to her friend just minutes before her murder helped the police trace her body, buried inside a trench in a forest in Magadi police station limits in Ramanagara district.
Lalitha alias Divya, a 32-year-old beautician and resident of Madanayakanahalli, was murdered by her estranged drug-addict husband Umesh, who worked in a travel agency. Lalitha was murdered and buried in Hujagal Hill forest area, near Basavanna Temple in Magadi between 4 pm and 11 pm on Monday.
Umesh used to fight repeatedly with Lalitha, suspecting her fidelity. Frustrated over it, she had filed for a divorce, separated from Umesh and lived with their son.
“On Monday, Umesh called her to meet him near Magadi court to sign the divorce papers. When Lalitha reached Magadi, he convinced her to accompany him to a temple and they both borrowed a two-wheeler from her friend Uma.
Enroute to the temple, suspecting that her husband may harm her, Lalitha shared her live location with Uma,” the police said.
At night, when Umesh returned the two-wheeler to Uma, he told her that Lalitha was dropped off at the bus stand. Suspecting foul play, Uma and her husband Balaraju immediately approached the Magadi police and filed a complaint.
Based on the live location shared by Lalitha, the police found her body in the forest on Tuesday. Umesh had strangled his wife to death with a towel.
“Umesh is still absconding. However, three of his associates have been picked up to get more information on his whereabouts. An NDPS case has also been registered against him at the same police station,” said an investigating officer.
The victim’s brother-in-law Maruthi said the body was found around 2 pm on Tuesday. “We got to know about the incident after Uma called my wife Poorvika. Lalitha had two phones and we called both, but they were switched off. After killing her, Umesh had thrown her phones inside a lorry with Andhra Pradesh registration, going on the state highway,” he added.