An illness of a woman allegedly led to her murder. The case was cracked by the police with the arrest of her brother on Saturday.
The City Market police arrested Shiva Kumar (24) on the charge of murdering his sister, Mahalakshmi (28).
Mahalakshmi was living with Shiva and their father Nanjundappa (59) at Achepete near Avenue Road. On June 28 around 8 p.m., she was rushed to Victoria Hospital where she was declared dead.
The hospital informed the police, who arrived the next day. They found the death suspicious. “We filed an Unnatural Death Record case and were waiting for the post-mortem report to confirm our suspicion. On Friday, we were informed that she died due to ligature strangulation,” said T.S. Jagadish, inspector, City Market Police Station. The mark of the strangulation was apparently hidden behind the folds of the neck.
The police questioned the father, who is partially blind and ailing, and Shiva. Eventually, Shiva confessed to killing his sister, police said.
Police said, after the death of their mother seven years ago, Mahalakshmi had apparently begun experiencing violent mood swings and had gone into depression. At times, she would allegedly hit her father and brother. Shiva claimed to have left his job as an attendant in a jewellery store to take care of her.
Shiva told the police that he resented her illness and feared that no one would come forward to marry him due to her behaviour. Hence, he decided to strangle her with a clothesline during her afternoon nap.
