A 20-year-old married woman was allegedly killed by her lover in Karnataka's Mysuru after the man stuffed her mouth with "chemical powder" following a heated argument.
Police said the incident took place at a lodge on Saturday in the Bherya village of Mysuru's Saligrama taluk, news agency PTI reported.
The victim, identified as Darshitha, was reportedly a resident of Hunsur taluk's Gerasanahalli village. Though married to a man from Kerala, she was in an illicit relationship with the accused.
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Police said that Siddaraju was arrested, adding that he tried to mislead investigators by presenting her death as a result of a "mobile blast".
Affair goes awry
Kerala police said that Darshitha went missing on August 22 from her in-laws' home in Kannur, along with 30 sovereigns of gold ornaments and ₹4 lakh in cash.
She married Subhas AP, who works as a driver in Dubai, in 2022, and has a two-year-old daughter with him.
{{/usCountry}}She married Subhas AP, who works as a driver in Dubai, in 2022, and has a two-year-old daughter with him.
{{/usCountry}}A senior Karnataka police officer cited a preliminary probe and said the victim was in a relationship with the accused for a long time. However, she recently started avoiding him and did not make much effort to stay in touch.
This situation upset Siddaraju and resulted to a quarrel between the two.
What happened at the lodge?
A heated argument broke out between Darshitha and Siddaraju during their stay at the lodge. He stuffed her mouth with a chemical powder combination and killed her.
After she died, the accused screamed that a mobile phone had exploded. However, the lodge staff did not find any mobile phone upon arriving at the room.
When they asked Siddaraju about the alleged phone, he claimed that he threw it out of the window, a senior police officer was cited as saying. Later, the staff looked for the mobile phone but failed to find it. They became suspicious of the accused and informed the police about the incident.
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On the basis of their probe, police arrested Siddaraju after he confessed to the crime.
Mysuru Superintendent of Police, Vishnuvardhan N, said, "The victim was married to someone who is in Kerala, but she was in a relationship with the accused. We are further investigating the reason behind this murder. He used a chemical powder combination to kill her, which is currently being examined by the FSL (Forensic experts) team to ascertain its nature."
A case of murder was registered at the Saligrama police station and further investigation is underway.
Meanwhile, Kerala Police said that when Darshitha's mother-in-law, Sumatha, and brother-in-law, Sooraj, returned home on Friday evening, they found that the woman and her daughter were missing along with the gold ornaments and cash.
Sumatha tried contacting Darshitha, but failed to get any response. Later, she filed a complaint at Irrikur police station in Kannur, where a case of theft was registered.
When police reached out to Darshitha's relatives in Karnataka, they informed that she was on her way back to Kannur after handing over the daughter to her parents. However, her phone remained switched off.