BENGALURU: In a horrific incident, a 34-year-old woman was murdered by her daughter and the latter’s three male friends, all minors, at her house near Circle Maramma Temple in Subramanyapura police limits. The accused made the murder look like suicide by hanging the body from a ceiling fan. All the accused are 16 to 17 years old and are all school dropouts.
The deceased, Netravathi, was staying with her 17-year-old daughter on the 6th Main Road in Uttarahalli and was working as a helper at a loan recovery firm. After separating from her husband, she was reportedly in a relationship with another man for the last five years.
Netravathi’s daughter and the main accused were in a relationship. On October 24, they met at a shopping mall and decided to meet again at the girl’s house the next day. It is said that Netravathi had a habit of drinking alcohol before going to bed. At 9 pm on October 25, her daughter’s boyfriend, his 13-year-old cousin and two others went to her house when she was fast asleep.
Victim found daughter with friends, said will calls cops
Around 10.30 pm, Netravathi suddenly woke up to see her daughter with her boyfriend and three other male friends. When she told them that she will call the police, the accused allegedly strangled her to death with a towel. They then hanged the body with her saree from the ceiling fan and escaped, locking the front door from outside.
On October 26, the man with whom Netravathi had a relationship went to her house, saw the door was locked and went back. On Monday, Netravathi’s sister K Anitha, staying at KTM Layout on Mysuru Road, called him to find out about her sister. Both of them went near Netravathi’s house the same day. At the house, they peeped through the window and saw her hanging from the ceiling. Anitha immediately called the police, who registered an unnatural death case. Initially, it was suspected that Netravathi had died by suicide after coming to know of her daughter’s relationship.
But as the girl was still missing, Anitha called the police on October 29 and told them that her niece was untraceable. The police registered a kidnapping case as she is a minor.
Around 1.30 pm on October 30, the girl landed at her grandmother’s house in Kaggalipura. She told her relatives that on the night of October 25, while she and her mother were at home, her four male friends had come home. When her mother threatened to call the police, her male friends strangled her mother with a towel, dragged her into another room and hanged her, she told her grandmother. She also claimed that her friends whipped out a knife and threatened her not to tell anyone about the crime.
She said she was terrified and was staying at her friend’s house. But Anitha found out that the girl was staying at the house of her boyfriend’s relative. Anitha also suspected something amiss in the girl’s story, and called the police on Thursday night. She told them that the girl and her male friends could be involved in her sister’s murder. When the police interrogated the girl, she confessed to the murder.
