Kin of accused in Bengaluru murder case claim woman tortured him

Accused’s family members have said that the woman used to extort money and other valuables from him while physically abusing him

A day after the main accused in the murder of a 29-year-old Bengaluru woman allegedly died by suicide near his village in Bhadrak district of Odisha, his family members alleged that the woman used to extort money and other valuables from him besides physically abusing him.

Police personnel investigate after the dead body of a woman, cut into pieces, was found stored in a refrigerator, at Vyalikaval in Bengaluru on Saturday. (ANI Photo) (ANI)

On Wednesday morning, body of the 31-year-old main accused in Mahalaxmi murder case, was found at the cremation ground in Bhadrak. Police alleged that the man, who worked with Mahalaxmi, had killed her on September 3 and later chopped the body into 59 pieces before stuffing them into a refrigerator in a one-bedroom apartment in Vyalikaval area of Bengaluru last week.

According to police, Mahalakshmi had moved to Bengaluru nine months ago after a family dispute, leaving her husband. After moving to the city, she entered into a relationship with the man from Odisha. The suicide note in his diary revealed that he had strangulated Mahalaxmi on September 3 after an altercation and later chopped the body using an axe blade.

On Thursday, the accused’s younger brother told reporters that after killing Mahalaxmi, his brother came to Berhampur and confessed to his crime. “My brother was with me for last nine-ten days. After staying for three days with me he confessed to killing Mahalaxmi. He told me that she used to blackmail him and extorted money from him. He was forced to give her a golden ring, an expensive mobile phone as well as a necklace. She used to demand money from him as and when she wished and him got beaten up and arrested,” he said.

“Over the last one and a half years, he was stressed over the fact that all his earnings were being taken away by Mahalaxmi leaving little for himself and his parents... He kept on telling that the woman has destroyed our family,” the brother alleged.

“He wanted to marry her and was taking her on a bike to Kerala. However, she accused him of kidnapping and got him beaten up by the public. The public beat him up badly and handed him over to the police. He was also beaten by the cops and left after he gave ₹1,000 bribe. The girl’s brother along with his friends had also threatened to kill my brother. So, out of rage, he choked her. After realising that she had died, he tried to hang her to show it as suicide. However, he could not hang her and hence chopped it into pieces and put it in the fridge before fleeing to Odisha,” he claimed.

The brother further alleged that the Bengaluru police subjected him to torture to extract information about his brother’s actions and interactions. He was then moved from Berhampur to various locations, including Balasore, Soro, and Bhadrak, and finally released in Bhubaneswar. “I could not follow whatever they said due to their accented Hindi and that led to further torture,” the brother claimed.

Meanwhile, his mother said that her son was stressed when he arrived from Bengaluru at 10 pm on Tuesday. “When I asked him why he was so tensed he told me that he had done something wrong. He revealed that he had killed the girl in Bengaluru who worked with him... He told me Mahalaxmi used to beat him and that he had to kill her to save himself,” his mother claimed.

Meanwhile, police in Bhadrak district said they have recovered the suicide note that said, “I was fed up with her conduct. I fought with her over personal matters and Mahalaxmi assaulted me. Enraged by her act, I killed her.”