Man 'murders' brother-in-law's parents for 'ruining' his sister's life

The gruesome murder of an elderly couple in JP Nagar, South Bengaluru, was committed by the brother-in-law of their son who had differences with his wife, police said. The suspect has been arrested.

Govindaiah B J, 65, a retired government employee, and his wife Shanthamma, 55, were found fatally stabbed in their RBI Layout home on Sunday evening. No one else was present at their residence at the time. Their son, Naveen B J, a software engineer by profession, had stepped out for shopping while his wife, Pavithra D, had gone to her parents’ house in Avalahalli, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Rohini Katoch Sepat.

The jurisdictional Konanakunte police initially suspected Naveen but he produced an alibi. The call detail record of his mobile phone showed that he wasn’t home at the time of the murder.

The needle of suspicion then moved towards Naveen’s brother-in-law, Rakesh D, 25, an electrical contractor. Police had many reasons to suspect him. He had allegedly threatened Naveen during a phone call just hours before the murder. Naveen and Pavithra, married in 2008, had many differences. She had left him and filed for divorce but a family court counselled the couple to give their marriage another chance.

Pavithra started living with Naveen again. Rakesh didn’t like that as he believed Naveen had ruined his sister’s life. Disagreements cropped up between the couple again, and Pavithra returned to her parents’ home. Naveen, however, kept trying to win her back.

The DCP said that on Sunday, too, Naveen had called Rakesh and asked him to bring his sister over. The two had an argument and Rakesh allegedly gave a warning: “You wait and see, what I’ll do after coming to your house.”

Rakesh arrived in JP Nagar but didn’t come to the deceased couple’s house. He apparently waited for Naveen to go out. Naveen happened to step out after a while. Rakesh barged into the house and stabbed the couple.

When Konankunte police inspector T M Dharmendra rushed to the spot, he discovered that there was neither a forced entry into the house nor were any valuables missing. It appeared to be a murder committed by someone known to the couple.

But once Naveen told the police about his fight with Rakesh, police picked up the latter for questioning, checked the CCTV footage and his call detail record. They had strong reasons to suspect him.

He was arrested and is currently being questioned in police custody.