“She was not just a brilliant woman but was bold, too. She dreamt of being honoured by the President of India or the prime minister for her work in medicine. But we never thought that she would be killed by her husband,” said Mohan Reddy T S, brother-in-law of Dr Kruthika M Reddy, a 29-year-old dermatologist allegedly killed by her husband in Bengaluru.
On April 24, Kruthika was declared dead on arrival when taken to Cauvery Hospital by her parents, with whom she was living, after she was found unresponsive in her room. Three days before that, she had complained of gastritis and was treated by her surgeon husband, Dr Mahendra Reddy G S, 31, according to the police.
While the family thought the death was natural, Kruthika’s sister Dr Nikitha M Reddy insisted that she wanted to know the cause of the death, which led police to register a case of unnatural death.
Six months later, the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) reports suggested that she was administered a high dosage of Propofol, an anaesthetic drug restricted to operating theatre use only. The Bengaluru police arrested her husband Mahendra for allegedly killing her by giving her the high-dose anaesthetic injection.
Kruthika’s family was devastated after the arrest of her husband. Interestingly, he visited them multiple times after her death and was seemingly depressed.
Mohan, Nikitha’s husband, spoke about hours before Kruthika’s death. “On April 23, he (Mahendra) administered her IV and went to sleep in another room. The next morning, when she was found unresponsive, my in-laws and Mahendra shifted her to the hospital, where doctors declared that she was dead. Mahendra insisted that his wife’s body be taken to his hometown for cremation, stating that a postmortem was unnecessary. However, it was my wife who remained strong and wanted to know the cause of death.”
“We had no suspicion of Mahendra as he pretended to be in depression following his wife’s death. After her death, he visited his in-laws multiple times and used to speak about whether they got any word from the police related to the FSL report. But when we got to know that Propofol was being used, we then connected it to the IV drips that he used to administer days before her death,” said Mohan, an engineer.
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A grand wedding
Kruthika and Mahendra tied the knot in an arranged marriage on May 26, 2024. According to Kruthika’s family, they spent about Rs 2 crore for the wedding, and in October, Mahendra sought financial help from Kruthika’s family to set up a hospital in Bengaluru.
“When he sought money, Kruthika’s family asked him to gain some service before setting up, and it needed several crores of rupees of investment. He was unhappy about it,” said Mohan.
Mohan said it was only after they learned of Mahendra’s alleged involvement in the death that they sought information regarding him and his twin brother, Dr Nagendra Reddy.
“We came to know that Dr Nagendra Reddy, the twin brother of Mahendra, has been facing a criminal case since 2018 at the HAL police station. In 2023, Mahendra was named as a co-accused for issuing a threat against the complainant. But a day before the death of Kruthika, a compromise was held and the cases were withdrawn,” said Mohan.
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The family also alleged that Mahendra was having an affair with a woman he met in Mumbai during his college days. “We recently learned that he had been involved with her and that they had agreed on a sum of money for her not to disturb his marriage. However, it appears he has resumed contact with the same woman,” Mohan said.
The police arrested Mahendra from Manipal in the Udupi district when he was away from work. “He did not know that the FSL report was out, and he did not know that he was under police radar,” said a police officer.
Mahendra was produced before a magistrate Wednesday and sent to nine days’ police custody.
Mahendra’s father is said to be a landlord who has rented out several properties in Gunjur and Marathahalli, while Krithika’s father is a retired electrical engineer.