Subrahmanya: Elderly couple found dead under suspicious circumstances in house near Guttigar

Subrahmanya: Elderly couple found dead under suspicious circumstances in house near Guttigar

Mangalore Today News Network

Subrahmanya, May 03, 2014: An elderly couple were found dead under suspicious circumstances in their house at Valalambe Kadtal Kajethota near Guttigar on May 2, Friday morning. The deceased are Hariraj Bhat (75) and his wife Sulochana (64). Their bodies were found in different rooms of the house.

If Sulochana was found dead on the bed with her face crushed, Hariraj’s body was found in an adjacent room in a hanging state. Blood stains were found in his face and the sword used to commit the murder was found in the shed nearby.

 

 

At the outset it seems Hariraj Bhat had killed his wife and then hanged self. Still there is much suspicion regarding the case and locals are wondering if it was a suicide or murder.

The couple hailing from an affluent family, had three children. If one son Prashanth is in the United States, another son Suryakanth is a doctor in Hubli. Yet another son Chandrakanth was into electronic business while his wife Radhika is a Bharatanatyam teacher who conducts classes at Subrahmanya and other places. With the Chandrakanth couple mostly remaining away,   only the elderly couple remained at home most of the time.

Sources say on May 1, Thursday midnight , Hariraj Bhat had messaged Sooryakanth hinting at his plans to end life. He had immediately passed on information to Chandrakanth who  telephoned his home. When no one received the call, he instructed the workers to visit home.  By the time a worker who resided nearby arrived home in the morning, the couple were found dead.

 It is said the couple were in good terms and had no problems as such.Bhat owned acres of rubber plantation  and  some time back, he  had planned to lease out his plantation to someone else but the talks had failed. Moreover the fibre chair and a wooden stool which Bhat had used to stand while hanging himself had not changed their position giving room for doubts.

Senior police officials including SP Sharanappa, DySP Mendonca and others have visited the spot. The bodies have been placed in the mortuary of a hospital in Mangalore until the couple’s son arrives from the United States.