Honour killing: logo on man’s shirt leads to suspects

The Mandya district police have speeded up the investigation into the ‘honour killing’ of a couple from Hosur in Tamil Nadu. The total number of arrested persons, as on Tuesday, is six, while another accused is still at large.

KPCL assistant engineer M Naveen Kumar of Bluff called up Belakavadi sub-inspector of police Umavathi on November 13 afternoon and informed about a floating body in a channel from the SBR lake towards the Shimsha Power House.

R Srikanth, the Circle Inspector of Police, Malavalli Rural, said, “The legs were tied tightly and the neck was found strangulated with a shawl. On the T-shirt on the body, there was a logo, reading ‘Jai Bheem’ and ‘Choodaganapalli’.

We set up teams to trace the identity of the victim. While one team went to Andhra Pradesh, another went to Tamil Nadu. While one team was in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, on November 15, we found the body of Swathi, 19, at the same place. Her hands and legs had been tied and she had suffered a grievous head injury”.

“We suspected it to be a double murder case in connection with some love affair. We alerted our teams in the neighbouring states. We came across the missing case of Nandish, 25, and Swathi in Hosur town. The parents and relatives of Nandish at Choodaganapalli of Hosur taluk, Krishnagiri district, identified the couple.

Assisted by the Tamil Nadu police, our personnel arrested Srinivas, 43, father of Swathi, Venkatesh, 50, Srinivas’ elder brother and Krishnaswamy, 26, a relative, at Hosur,” Srikanth said.

The other accused Ashwath, 48, also Srinivas’ elder brother, Venkataraju, Srinivas’ younger brother, and Lakshman, Krishnaswamy’s friend, were remanded in judicial custody on Tuesday. Another accused Swaminathan is at large.

The CPI said Nandish and Swathi had married in August and were staying in Hosur. “Members of Swathi’s family abducted the couple in a Tata Sumo vehicle on November 10 and brought them to Shivanasamudra in Malavalli taluk. They assaulted the couple and tied their hands and legs, before pushing them into SBR lake,” he said.