MADIKERI/MYSURU: A tribal man, who spent over three years in prison for "murdering" his wife, was released a few days ago after his wife was found alive.
The man Kurubara Suresh (35), a resident of Basavanahalli Tribal Settlement Camp in Kushalnagar taluk of Kodagu, has been on bail since September 2024 when, he along with his friends, managed to track down his wife who has been living with her boyfriend.
Kurubara Suresh (35) married Mallige nearly two decades ago and they have two children-- an 18-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter.
In 2020, all of a sudden, Mallige went missing. Following this, Suresh lodged a complaint with the Kushalnagar rural police.
Police meanwhile recovered the skeletal remains of a woman from the banks of Cauvery in Bettadapura police station limits in Mysuru district.
Following this, Kushalnagar rural police took Suresh to the spot for a mahazar (panchnama). Subsequently, they forced him to give a statement that the skeletal remains were that of Mallige. Later, a chargesheet was filed against Suresh accusing him of murdering his wife and he was arrested in June 2021 and remanded in custody.
Meanwhile, Suresh, who has been out on bail, managed to track down his wife with the help of his friends on April 1 this year. Suresh and his friends spotted Mallige moving around with one Ganesh near B Shettigeri in South Kodagu recently.
Following this Suresh informed the police and appealed before the court to reopen his case.
When the court demanded evidence, Suresh produced a video of Mallige having food in a restaurant in Madikeri with Ganesh, which was recorded by his friends. The court considered it and issued an order releasing Suresh from jail.
Now, the woman has been taken into custody by the police after she "confessed" that she chose the man she loved over her husband and has been living in a village 20 km away from Madikeri, sources said.
Though Suresh says, according to a report, that he was aware of his wife’s affair around the time when they were together, he did not mention it while filing the missing person complaint or even after he was arrested.
Actually, Suresh got bail in September 2023, but he had to remain in prison for another year as he lacked the means to furnish a security bond of Rs 1 lakh. It was in September 2024, Suresh was finally released on bail.
Suresh said, “I was tortured and forced to give a statement that the skeletal remains recovered by the police were that of my wife’s."
Suresh, who says he is unlettered but can sign his name, told The Indian Express, “When Bettadapura police arrived at his residence to arrest him (in June 2021), he pleaded with them saying that he had filed a woman missing complaint. Instead of hearing him out, they forced him to sign some documents and sent him to prison.
When Suresh was in jail, his son Krishna was in Class 10. Krishna quit school after he failed in one subject. He started working to support his sister Keerthi’s education and to take care of their grandmother.
“We did not bother whether our mother was dead or alive. We knew our father was innocent and have been praying for his release from jail. Now, with him being released from jail, I want to clear my Class 10 exam and pursue higher studies,” Krishna said.
Suresh’s advocate Pandu Pujari blamed shoddy investigation by the police for his client’s ordeal.
After the skeletal remains of the woman were found in Bettadapura, the police arrested Suresh in 2021 on the charge of murdering Mallige. Suresh was forced to confess to a crime he never committed, Pujari said.
Pujari said even before receiving the DNA report, the police filed the chargesheet and sent Suresh to prison.
(With inputs from Online Desk)