Eighteen days since the murder of 20-year-old K.R. Deepika and her four-month-old son in a suspected case of honour killing, the police have not been able to trace the accused who have been on the run.
The police suspect Deepika was killed along with her infant for marrying her neighbour R. Venkatesh, from a different caste, against her family's wishes. The murders were committed on February 26 in Thamasandra village near Kallahalli in Kanakapura.
The accused are Deepika's father Ramakrishnaiah, mother Gowramma, uncle K.V. Venkatesh (a teacher at the Rural High School in Harohalli), her aunt Padma, grandfather Mooge Gowda and another uncle Channabeere Gowda (a police head constable attached to the Chickpet police station in Bangalore).
A Ramanagaram police official said the accused, after the killing, visited Dharmastala and Kukke Subrahmanya to offer special pujas. They suspect the six fugitives are in the south-eastern part of the State or in its neighbourhood and plan to issue lookout notices bearing their photographs to all police stations across south India.
They have initiated action against Head Constable Channabeere Gowda with T. Siddappa, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Channapatna sub-division) asking the City Police to suspend him. “We are also freezing his bank accounts,” he told The Hindu on Tuesday. “The accused have stopped using mobile phones but are in constant touch with their relatives through landlines.”
Mr. Siddappa said the police are awaiting the results of tests on the bones and other remains collected from the site where Deepika and her son were cremated.
