Malur sees an increase in murder cases

Fifteen of 22 victims in the taluk in the last two years were women

From 2009 to now, a total of 22 murders have been reported in the taluk, with 15 victims being women.

In 2009, three cases of murder were reported in the Town Police Station and one case was reported in Masti Police Station. The victims were lawyer Vijay Kumar, Rajamma, Netravathi and Kanthamma. The murder case of the lawyer was closed due to the lack of evidence. The other three cases are under various stages of investigation.

In 2010, nine murders were reported in the Town Police Station and two in Masti Police Station. The victims were Gayatri, Mumtaz, Hoskote Manjunath, Ramesh, Hamsabai, Sunandamma, Sujatha, Munishyamappa, Vajramma and Manjula. All cases are under various stages of investigation.

This year

In the current year, seven murders were reported in the Town Police Station and the victims are Harish, Lakshmamma, Manjamma, Mahadevamma, Manjula, Ishwaramma and the most recent victim Ismail, who was murdered on Wednesday night.

In Masti Police Station, three murder cases have been reported this year and the victims Ramu, Chennamma and Nanjamma. All the cases are under various stages of investigation.

The investigation into one of the murder cases reported in 2008 in which Anuradha, the victim was brutally murdered, resulted in the conviction of Murali and Yogesh under Section 302. The two were awarded death sentence. Another convicted, Harish was sentenced for life.

Receiving end

Police say the victims in most of the murders are women and the reasons are usually extra-marital affairs and dowry harassment.

Though the investigation into all the cases are progressing rapidly, police say there is a disparity with the strength of the police and the population. The proximity to Bangalore is also a reason for the increasing crime rate, they say.

Circle Inspector Keshavamurthy feels that crime-related programmes on the television have also led to the increase in crime rate.