Female techie strangled in flat; cops suspect prospective groom

A 31-year-old software engineer was found dead with strangle marks on her neck at her flat in Mahaveer Kings Place apartment near Vijayalakshmi Colony in Kadugodi, off Whitefield, in eastern Bengaluru on Tuesday night.

Kusuma Rani, who hailed from Punjab, was strangled with a laptop battery cord, the police suspect. The murder came to light when her roommate, Nidhi, returned home from work around 9 pm. She opened the door and found her lying on the floor. Rani was unresponsive. Nidhi alerted the neighbours and called the police.

Rani worked for computer technology multinational IBM in Whitefield. She earlier lived in Noida and had moved to Bengaluru just six months ago. She had divorced her husband and posted her profile on the matrimonial website, Shaadi.com. It is clear that she was looking forward to remarry, the police said. Security guards at the apartment told the police about a man who had come asking for Rani. They said they told her about him. She came down and took him to her flat. The man left the place after a few hours, said a senior police officer who is part of the investigation.

CCTV footage shows the man entering the apartment complex and leaving. “We suspect him and are searching for him. Rani was alone in the flat when she was murdered,” the officer said.

It has also emerged that Rani had lodged a complaint at the Kadugodi police station a few months ago, saying a man whom she contacted through the matrimonial website had cheated her of Rs four lakh by promising to marry her. “We are investigating if it was the same man who visited the victim on Tuesday,” the officer added.  A case has been registered at the Kadugodi police station.