Mandya: Woman, partner murdered in front of 12-year-old son

Mangalore Today News Network

Mandya, Dec 19, 2016: Police confirmed that Monica, whose body was found under mysterious circumstances, had been murdered by her relatives for having an affair with a dalit boy.

SP superintendent of police Sudheerkumar Reddy said Monica’s father Mohan and maternal uncles Suresh and Ramakrishna killed Monica around April 2 midnight after she refused to give up her love for a dalit boy and stay away from him.The accused were enraged that Monica had even dared to flee her house and join her lover Police arrested Mohan and Suresh and are looking for Ramakrishna who helped cremate the body.

Reddy said, "During the interrogation, the accused spilled the beans about the crime and gave a full account of the conspiracy to eliminate Monica."

According to Reddy, on April 2, Mohan, Suresh and Ramakrishna (brothers of Monica’s mother Bhagyamma) tried to persuade the girl to forget about the dalit boy, saying her conduct would bring a bad name to the family. When Monica flatly rejected their request and said she would marry her lover, the accused hatched a conspiracy to kill her.

The accused pressured Monica to write a letter in which she had to state she was leaving home of her own accord and if anything bad happened to her, only she was responsible for it. The accused promised Monica they’d set her free if she wrote the letter as they dictated it and believing them, she wrote the letter and handed it to her father.


"After they received the letter, the three accused held her and one of them choked with his foot. Monica died due to asphyxia. To cover up their crime, the accused said she committed suicide and they hurriedly burnt her body on their farm at 4.30am. But their actions gave enough room for suspicion." Reddy said.

He said call records of the accused, evidence collected from Monica’s house and cremation site clues helped nail the culprits. To a query, Reddy said Bhagyamma was released as there was nothing to prove her involvement in the crime.