MADIKERI: A 70-year-old woman was brutally murdered in her house at K Nidugane village near Madikeri on Monday night. Initial investigation revealed robbery as the cause for the murder. However, Madikeri Crime Branch police are investigating the case.
Lalitha was living alone for the past 15 years. She was looking after her 12 acre estate in K Nidugane and was frequently visited by her son and two daughters. Lalitha’s daughters Chandravathi and Meenakshi called Lalitha twice every day. While the daughters had spoken to Lalitha on Monday morning, all the calls went unanswered after 7 pm on Monday.
“We thought that our mother must have kept her phone elsewhere and we waited for her call till 8.30 pm. Meanwhile, we made nearly 50 phone calls to her mobile,” recalled Chandravathi. When the calls went unanswered, a relative who stayed in Madikeri was alerted and he visited Lalitha’s house around 9 pm. The doors were left open and all the things inside the house were laying haywire.
“When we reached the place from Kallugundi, we found our mother lying in a pool of blood. She was cut on her neck,” said Chandravathi. The family revealed that Lalitha had in her possession Rs 50,000 in cash and a few jewels, which are all missing. The daughter suspected that someone was waiting for Lalitha to return from the estate as she was killed outside the house, where she was laying firewood to heat water for her bath.
Police are investigating the case and are interrogating the neighbours. The case has been registered at Madikeri Rural Police Station. A post-mortem was conducted at Madikeri District Hospital.