In January last year, the disappearance of a school teacher shocked Melukote, a peaceful and serene temple town in Karnataka’s Mandya district. Deepika Lokesh, a 28-year-old teacher, finished work by noon and left school—but never returned home. The frantic search for her whereabouts and the police investigation that followed uncovered a tale of infidelity, an Instagram friendship, and a cruel murder.
January 20, 2024. For Deepika, a teacher at SET Public School, the day began like any other. She left home on her scooter and headed to school. After finishing work by noon, Deepika left school as usual, but failed to return home. After frantically searching for her, her father, Venkatesh S, filed a missing person’s complaint.
Deepika had been married to Lokesh for nine years and had an eight-year-old son. “She had left the house on her scooter. We were concerned about her safety as she had not left with any valuables or luggage,” a police officer who was part of the investigating team recalled.
The police began by tracking her mobile phone, but it was switched off. “We checked her call detail records (CDR) and found that she frequently called a few people. We contacted these people and questioned them. One of them, a man named Nitish, was missing,” the official said.
With that, the police had their first clue.
An argument caught on a tourist’s video
On January 22, the police received a video of a man and a woman fighting at the foothills of Shri Yoganarasimha Swamy Temple hills. “We knew the colour of Deepika’s clothes as mentioned in the missing person’s complaint. It matched the one in the video. Some tourists had recorded the fight and shared the video. We visited the place and found an abandoned Honda Dio scooter,” the official recalled.
Along with the police, Deepika’s father Venkatesh, husband Lokesh, their relatives, and other locals started searching in the bushes near the foothills. “There was a foul smell, so we followed it. Eventually, we found a body half-buried in the mud. It was Deepika’s,” the official added.
Then Mandya superintendent of police (SP) Yatish N, deputy SP Murali H R and Melukote Police Inspector Siddappa H S visited the spot.
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It was confirmed to be a case of murder. Multiple teams were formed to nab the killer.
An Instagram friendship that soured
As the police investigation intensified, Lokesh voiced his suspicions about Nitish. “Upon checking their phone details, we found that they were in a relationship. Lokesh later confirmed this,” the officer said.
Nitish, 21, the son of a local Congress leader, Narasimhe Gowda, worked in a private firm in Mysuru. He and Deepika connected via Instagram, where she was active with a considerable number of followers, the police said.
“Nitish comes from a fairly wealthy family in the region. He befriended Deepika through Instagram after he came across her reels. In fact, they had done some reels together, where he called her akka (sister), but they were in a relationship,” a police officer said.
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Lokesh also allegedly told the police that he had warned Nitish not to talk to his wife 15 days before Deepika went missing.
A prime suspect
Nitish became the prime suspect in the case. When the police went to his house seeking information, they allegedly learnt that he had sent an audio note to his father, saying that he had committed a mistake. “He told his father to arrange his sister’s wedding, and not wait for him,” the officer said.
“For us, it was a reconfirmation that Nitish was the killer. We tracked him near Hospet in Vijayanagara district, arrested him, and brought him to Melukote. During questioning, he said that he was in a relationship with Deepika, but she had started avoiding him, which he could not accept,” the officer added.
It was Nitish’s birthday on January 20. According to the police, he requested Deepika to meet him one last time. The duo met at the foothills of Melukote hills. “He had not carried weapons. It did not look like he was prepared to kill her. In a fit of rage, he used her dupatta to kill her on the spot. Later, he buried the body before fleeing from the spot,” the police officer said.
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The police arrested Nitish and booked him under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. Nitish spent a year in jail, after which he was released on bail.
The police officer claimed that Nitish was obsessed with Deepika. “They were having an affair, but she was in no state to leave her husband and kid for Nitish. On the other hand, Nitish was unclear about the future of his relationship. But when she started to avoid him, he could not take it, and he killed her,” the officer said.
Months later, a revenge killing
But the murder case did not end there. In May this year, Nitish’s father, Narasimhe, was allegedly murdered by Venkatesh, Deepika’s father, at Manikyahalli in Mandya district. Venkatesh, devastated by his daughter’s death, was allegedly planning to kill Nitish. However, after stepping out on bail, Nitish had stayed away from the village.
Narasimhe, on the other hand, was preparing for his daughter’s wedding in Dharmasthala. When he learnt about this, Venkatesh allegedly decided to kill him to avenge his daughter’s death. Venkatesh stabbed Narasimhe in public and was arrested within hours.
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Following his father’s murder, Nitish claimed that he was innocent and did not kill Deepika.