MYSURU: A 30-year-old woman and her two daughters were allegedly burnt to death in a tobacco barn at Rajanabelaguli village in Bettadapura police limits in Periyapatna taluk. The incident is said to have occurred on January 28, but it came to light on Saturday.
Reportedly, the woman’s brother Yuvaraja B K, who had approached Bettadapura police soon after the incident, was turned away by the officials. A case related to murder and destruction of evidence was registered on February 17, a full three weeks later, after the intervention of Mysuru superintendent of police Ravi D Channananavar.
Kusuma and her daughters Kavya (7) and Pranita (4) were found charred to death at their house in Rajanabelaguli on January 28. The same day, Kusuma's husband Devaraj and six of his relatives allegedly burnt the body near a hillock on the outskirts of the village in a bid to destroy the evidence.
The woman’s husband had initially claimed it to be suicide, however, Yuvaraja, upon visiting the accident spot the same day, found no evidence of the incident. This led him to suspect that the mother and daughters were burnt to death in a fire pit located in the tobacco curing barn located just next to their house.
Yuvaraja claims that Devaraj tried to broker peace with him with the help of village elders. He was also given 20 gm of gold and Rs 15,000 for the same, he said.
However, a few days later, Yuvaraja mustered courage and approached SP Ravi Channananavar. On the directions of the SP, the accused were booked for murder (IPC 302) and destruction of evidence (IPC 201).
Yuvaraja told reporters on Saturday that Devaraj had tortured Kusuma for not bearing him a male child. The couple's first two daughters had died under mysterious circumstances within a few days of birth. He said that a few days before her death, Kusuma had told him that she was unable to bear the harassment.
The SP said they will conduct an impartial investigation on the incident. He refused to say whether it was a case of suicide or murder at this stage, stating that the investigation will bring out the truth.