The police in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district arrested a 21-year-old man Wednesday for allegedly killing his 18-year-old girlfriend who was found dead in a semi-burnt condition with torn clothes beside the Bengaluru-Davangere stretch of National Highway 48 Tuesday.
The deceased was the daughter of a Dalit couple from the Hiriyur region, and a first-year Bachelor of Arts student at the government college in Chitradurga. She was living in a hostel for Scheduled Casts/Scheduled Tribes students in Chitradurga town. The accused has been identified as Chethan K, 21, who often came near the hostel and had been seeing her for over a year.
The woman’s partially burnt body was found beside a service road on NH 48 around 1 pm Tuesday by a couple who stopped for a toilet break. They informed the manager of a hotel on the other side of the highway about the body. The manager complained with the Chitradurga police about the unidentified body.
A preliminary probe revealed the identity of the woman, who had a tattoo in English on her arm which said ‘Amma’ (mother). The police suspected that the murder occurred between Monday and Tuesday.
A probe revealed that she left her hostel in Chitradurga on August 14 after seeking permission from the hostel warden to go to her home in neighbouring Hiriyur. After her visit home, Chethan allegedly picked her up.
The police said the probe revealed that Chethan had taken her to an isolated place to get intimate, but got angry after learning of her friendship with another youth. He allegedly hit her before strangling and partially burning the body with fuel from his motorcycle.
The police said Chethan admitted to killing her over her proximity to another youth. Her parents said they were aware of her relationship with Chethan.
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“A boy called Chethan called up my daughter and took her away to kill her. If I had known their problems, I would have intervened. I looked after her like a boy and did all kinds of manual labour to provide her an education,” the woman’s mother told the media Wednesday.
Chitradurga town Wednesday witnessed protests by various groups, including students, women and Dalit outfits seeking justice for the woman’s family.