Husband, daughter held for woman's murder

A 45-year-old woman was murdered and buried at a farmhouse by her husband and their daughter with the help of the latter’s lover. The incident took place April and came to light only on Thursday. 

The deceased is Manjula, a resident of Hegadagere in Bidadi. The arrested are Manjula’s husband Thimmaiah, 50, and her daughter Rani, 21. Rani’s lover Anand is absconding. 

Thimmaiah and Manjula were working as caretakers at a farmhouse, owned by Ramakrishna, a resident of Bengaluru. They were residing on the farmhouse premises.

In April, Thimmaiah, Rani and Anand hatched a plan to eliminate Manjula, as they were unable to bear her torture. According to the suspects, Manjula was constantly quarrelling with them over personal issues. The accused hacked her to death and buried the body in the farmhouse. They spread rumours in the village that Manjula had gone missing, police said. 

The plot came to light when Manjula’s elder daughter Pavithra, a resident of Karadi Gowdanahalli, visited the farmhouse on Thursday with her husband. 

She found no one in the house and enquired with the neighbours. She was told that her mother had gone missing for a month now and that her father and sister had not come home for over a couple of weeks. She suspected foul play and registered a complaint with the Bidadi police that her mother Manjula was missing for over a month. “The police tracked down Thimmaiah in Hegadagere and grilled him. He confessed to have committed the murder along with Rani and Anand. A team was sent to look out for Rani and she was arrested from Kodihalli. 

During the investigation, they revealed that Manjula was constantly fighting with them over personal issues. She was against Manjula being in a relationship with a man and had warned her not to continue the relationship. The trio decided to murder her. 

“We are yet to ascertain when the murder took place. The body has been exhumed and sent for post-mortem. The incident will be recreated and the weapons used to commit the offence will be recovered,” said a senior police officer. 

A case has been registered in Bidadi police station.