The Anantapur police on Sunday arrested a man who attempted to bury the body of his wife who was allegedly murdered by him in Karnataka. Apparently, he carried the body to Anantapur in a gunny bag, covering a distance of over 500 km in a bus.
The Three Town police said the man, Manjunath, 24, used to assist his uncle at the latter’s barber shop at Narasingarajapuram of Chikamaglur district in Karnataka after discontinuing his B.Tech course. There, he fell in love with a girl, Manjula, and married her. The couple had two daughters, Jahnavi, 5, and Ritvika, 2.
As Manjunath occasionally suffered from seizures, he took up job in a factory where he befriended one Umesh, who developed an illicit relationship with Manjula and often visited their house in Manjunath’s absence.
The two reportedly took advantage of the time when Manjunath would slip into slumber under the influence of the tablets he was taking for seizures.
In course of time, Manjunath grew suspicious, and on Saturday, when Umesh went to his house, Manjunath pretended to be in deep slumber. In a fit of rage, he tried to kill Umesh by hitting him with an iron rod.
In an attempt to save Umesh, Manjula received the blow and died on the spot even as Umesh fled the scene. Fearing arrest in Karnataka, which is not his native State, Manjunath packed Manjula’s body in a gunny bag and left the place along with his two children for Anantapur by road. At Anantapur, he decided to bury Manjula’s body with the help of his family members.
But, people in the neighbourhood grew suspicious and complained to police who arrested Manjunath. A case was registered and investigation is on. The body was sent for post-mortem to the Anantapur Government General Hospital.
