The Bengaluru city police on Wednesday arrested a couple in connection with the murder of their landlord’s wife, while she was alone at home.
The arrested are Maharashtra natives Prasad Srishail, 26, and his wife Sakshi Hanamanta, 23 — both tenants of Ashwath Narayan, who works at an incense stick factory in Cottonpet. Sources said that the accused had availed loans from various people, including Narayan.
Srilakshmi, 65, was found murdered at her residence in Uttarahalli on Monday afternoon, when Narayan was out for work. Her ‘mangalsutra’ was found missing, the police said.
According to the police, the couple had come to their landlord’s house under the pretext of watching television and strangulated Srilakshmi. They used the pillow to muffle her cries and assaulted her to silence her protest, a police officer said.
The police said that they have launched a probe based on the lead that a couple had visited Srilakshmi’s house around 1 pm on Monday.
During the investigation, the police grew suspicious of Srishail and his wife after they came to know they had visited Srilakshmi’s house on Monday, and hence took them into custody. On interrogation, the couple disclosed they had robbed Srilakshmi’s ‘mangalasutra’ as they did not find any valuables in the house, the police said.
Srishail worked as a labourer in Bengaluru, while his wife, Sakshi, worked as a receptionist at a jewellery shop in Padmanabhanagar.
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“We don’t know why they availed loans and what they did with the money. We are taking them for questioning. The accused checked every corner of the house after the murder, thinking there would be money and other valuables in the house. But when they did not find anything, they took away the ‘mangalasutra’,” a police officer said.
The Subramanyapura police have registered a case under Sections 103(1) for murder and 311 for robbery of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Act.