BENGALURU: A 51-year-old woman who allegedly strangulated a transwoman over a quarrel, has been arrested by Jeevan Beema Nagar police. According to police, the crime likely occurred in the first week of May in Murugeshpalya on Old Airport Road.
The accused has been identified as Prema, a resident of Murugeshpalya and native of Channarayapatna of Hassan district. Prema works as a domestic help. The victim, Mangi Nayaka alias Mangi Bhai (42), was a transwoman residing Murugeshpalya.
Police said Prema lost her husband over 20 years ago and was staying with Mangi. The two had frequent fights over financial issues. Sometime between May 1 and 3, Mangi, who was reportedly drunk, had a heated argument and attempted to stab Prema with a knife, and the latter allegedly strangled Mangi with a towel in self-defense, before fleeing.
The police received a call two days later, when Mangi’s associates became suspicious after she was not responding to calls. On May 3, they found her decomposed body at home and called the police.
Initially, the police registered a case of unnatural death. The postmortem revealed that Mangi died due to high compression on the neck bone. The police questioned neighbours, and suspected Prema. On May 8, the police arrested Prema from her village and charged her with murder.