BENGALURU: In a horrific incident, a 16-year-old girl was allegedly shot dead by her minor live-in partner using a country-made firearm on July 10 after he found her texting another boy on social media. To cover up the crime, the accused, along with two others, buried her body in their agricultural field. Police have arrested all the three accused.
The murder took place at Kempalanatha village in the Kodihalli police station limits of Kanakapura taluk in Bengaluru South district. The crime came to light on Friday, a week after the murder, when the police knocked on the door’s of the accused following a missing person’s complaint filed by the girl’s parents.
The victim, a resident of Venkatarayadoddi in Sathanur, was a Class 9 dropout. The accused is a 16-year-old school dropout. The other arrested persons have been identified as the boy’s brother, Puttamada (19), and his uncle, Harish (40), both daily wage labourers and residents of Kempalanatha village.
According to the police, the two minors fell in love after meeting on social media. The girl had been living with the boy for about a month in a room next to his parents’ house in the village. The boy’s parents were aware of their relationship.
Girl’s body to be exhumed today; illegal firearm seized
On July 10, the boy allegedly found the girl chatting with another boy on Instagram. Enraged, he picked up an argument with her, allegedly assaulted her, and then shot her in the face with an old country-made firearm. She died on the spot. The accused then called his elder brother and uncle, and the three buried the body in their agricultural field to conceal the crime.
A senior police officer told TNIE that the firearm belonged to the minor accused’s grandfather and had been kept illegally by the family, believing it was previously used for hunting.
The police added the incident came to light after Harish allegedly shared details of the murder with one of his friends. The information soon spread through the village as rumours, eventually reaching the girl’s parents, who filed a missing person complaint after they were unable to contact her. The girl had told her parents that she was staying at a friend’s house. She remained in regular contact with them and recently said she would return home soon, the police said.
“Their (girl’s parents) negligence has also contributed to the incident as as they did not question her whereabouts or verify where she was staying. It appears that they were not bothered about her,” the police added.
The police questioned the minor boy and his family members who allegedly confessed to the murder. The Kodihalli police have registered a case under charges of murder and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The girl’s body will be exhumed on Saturday in the presence of tahsildar and sent for a post-mortem. The police have also seized the country-made firearm.
