The parents and sister of a 19-year-old girl attempted suicide on Wednesday after the teen was arrested on the charge of murdering her 76-year-old maternal grandmother last month and stealing her gold jewellery.
According to the J.J. Nagar Police, the girl, Harshita, is the second daughter of Shankar and Dhanalakshmi. The family lived in a rented house in Binnypet. Harshita, a SSLC dropout, worked as an office assistant in a private firm in Chamarajapet.
The deceased, Ramaratnamma, lived in Mysore. In May, when she came to Bangalore, Harshita demanded that she buy her a two-wheeler. But Ramaratnamma refused to do so and told Harshita that she was too young to drive on Bangalore’s roads. According to the police, the refusal to buy her a two-wheeler angered Harshita. So she decided to kill her grandmother and take her gold jewellery. On May 10, Harshita left for office. However, police said, she returned after her parents left for work and the elder sister had gone to college. Ramaratnamma was washing clothes in the bathroom when Harshita allegedly took a rolling pin from the kitchen and hit her. She allegedly removed her grandma’s jewellery, including three gold chains and a pair of bangles weighing 130 grams. The girl pawned the jewellery for Rs. 2 lakh in a private lending company on Mysore Road, they added.
Varsha, the elder daughter, found Ramaratnamma in a pool of blood and noticed that the jewellery was missing. The police were informed. Harshita joined her family in mourning, police said.
The police kept a close watch on the family as they suspected a property dispute. They zeroed in on Harshita on noticing that she was spending beyond her means. They examined her call records and tracked her mobile phone calls to the nearest tower from the scene of the crime. They also found that she was absent from work on the day of the murder. The girl spilled the beans during questioning. The jewellery was recovered. She was remanded in judicial custody.
Shocked parents and sister of the tried to end their lives in a lodge in Shimoga.
