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34-yr-old Jain man killed by Hindu in-laws in a case of hate crime: Cops
Police said 22-year-old Bagyashree Gowda was in a relationship with Bhujabala Karjagi for four years but her family, especially her father Thammana Gowda, opposed the union because Karjagi belonged to the Jain community while Bagyashree belonged to the dominant Kshatriya caste.
A 34-year-old man was murdered allegedly by his father-in-law in Karnataka’s Bagalkote district, police said on Monday, adding that they suspected it to be a hate crime because the accused didn’t approve of his daughter’s marriage to the victim.
Police said 22-year-old Bagyashree Gowda was in a relationship with Bhujabala Karjagi for four years but her family, especially her father Thammana Gowda, opposed the union because Karjagi belonged to the Jain community while Bagyashree belonged to the dominant Kshatriya caste.
The police said the woman’s parents warned Karjagi to end the relationship but the couple eloped and got married in a court a year ago. After the marriage, the couple came back to Takkoda village and were living in a separate house, the police added.“Accused Gowda was angry with the marriage, thinking a lower caste person married his daughter and even stayed in the same village,” Jamakhandi circle inspector Manohara Kanchagara said.
On December 17, during a festival, Gowda and his accomplices allegedly decided to execute the plan to kill Karjagi, police said. When Karjagi and his friend were returning to the village, Gowda and others allegedly blocked their motorcycle, threw chilli power in Karjagi’s eyes and attacked him with a machete, said police.His friend ran away but Karjagi sustained severe injuries and died on his way to the hospital , the police said.The police have arrested Gowda and are searching for two accomplices. Based on a complaint from the deceased’s brother Ramesh Karjagi, police registered a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
