A 10-year-old boy’s revelation at a prayer meet for his father helped unravel the murder, which was initially believed to be due to natural causes.
According to police, N Raghavendra, 40, was found dead at his house in Karenahalli, Dodaballapura, on the outskirts of Bengaluru on December 27, 2021. His wife, Shylaja, 30, called her husband’s brother, Shekar, around 2am, claiming that Raghavendra had collapsed from an epileptic attack. They took him to a hospital, where he was declared ‘brought dead’.
Two weeks later, the family arranged for a prayer meet for the deceased, which was attended by Shylaja and her son and daughter. While talking to his grandfather, Nanjundappa, her 10-year-old son said there was another person in the house on the day his father died.
Nanjundappa then alerted Shekar, who asked the child what had transpired.
The boy said he woke up in the middle of the night due to some noise. He saw that his father was pinned down by his mother and her mother, while another man was hitting him on his head with a rolling pin. “I asked them why they were hitting my father.
The other man hit me hard and said that I should keep my mouth shut and not tell anything about this or he will kill me. I got scared and went back to bed,” said the boy.
Shekar then checked the CCTV footage of a shop near his brother’s house and found a man entering the house late at night. He then filed a complaint with the police. The police have arrested Shylaja, her mother Laxmidevamma, 50, and Hanumantha, 30.
Interrogation revealed that Hanumantha was Shylaja’s colleague from the garments factory where she worked. They were having an affair, said police. As Raghavendra questioned Shylaja about her relationship with Hanumantha multiple times, they planned to murder him, said police.
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