New Delhi: A 23-year-old woman was killed by her live-in-partner in Bengaluru. After murdering her, the man allegedly tried to pass it off as a suicide. The killing took place at Ramdas Layout, Kodathi, early Thursday morning. The area falls under Varthur police station limits.
Girl abused, assaulted over caste
The accused was identified as Ayyappa KB who hailed from Kodagu district in Karnataka. He was divorced and fell in love with Ranjitha HG also from the same district. He promised to marry her and after convincing her parents, brought her to Bengaluru.
The couple then took a flat on rent at Kodathi village and began staying together. They had been living together for the past few months. While Ranjitha worked as a domestic help, Ayappa was working at a dry fruit store.
The couple however had been facing several domestic issues and had frequent fights, said a report in NDTV.
Just two weeks before her death, the woman called up her mother and said that Ayappa frequently abused her and beat her up. She said that on March 1, Ayappa abused her with casteist slurs. She also said that he parties with friends at home and after they left, he abused her.
Suicide attempt claim
According to the family, on March 12 Ayappa called them up and told them that Ranjitha had attempted suicide. He also claimed that he had taken her to a private hospital on Sarjapura Road, but doctors declared her brought dead.
The family however suspected something amiss and suspected that Ayappa had killed her. He then tried to portray it as a suicide, they claimed. The family then approached the police and filed a complaint against the man.
During investigations it was found that Ranjitha had been strangled using a cable wire. This confirmed the family’s suspicion that it was a murder, which Ayappa had tried to stage as a suicide.
Ayappa was arrested by the police. Ranjitha’s family took her body back to Kodagu for the last rites.