Woman hacked to death by stepson

A woman was allegedly hacked to death by her stepson at her residence on 6th cross, Balajinagar, Mico Layout on Saturday night.

Preliminary investigation revealed that a property dispute is the reason for the murder of Rajamma (46). Rajamma was the second wife of Ramareddy, a welder, who passed away six years ago. He hailed from KGF and had settled in Bangalore. He had a daughter, Dhanalakshmi, from Rajamma and four sons - Lokesh, Gurumurthy, Ramesh and Sunil - from his first wife Jayamma, police said.

Gurumurthy and Sunil are auto drivers, while Ramesh and Lokesh are welders. Gurumurthy and Ramesh are married, while Lokesh and Sunil are bachelors. Jayamma stayed with Sunil at Lakkasandra and Gurumurthy, Ramesh and Lokesh at Mattikere, Madiwala and Wilson Garden respectively. Dhanalakshmi was married to Shaji, with eight-year-old daughter Ashwini, and lived in Balajinagar.

Both the wives and their children had no issues over property till Ramareddy’s death. However, Jayamma’s sons were upset with their father as they presumed he neglected them and helped Rajamma financially. Ramareddy helped Rajamma to construct a multi-storey residential building at Balajinagar.

She had given four houses on rent, while staying in the fifth house in the building. Before his death, Ramareddy nominated Jayamma for a site he owned.

Efforts for settlement
The four sons demanded that Rajamma give some portion of the building to them, but she refused. They sought Rs 10 lakh instead and tried to settle the deal for Rs eight lakh. However, Rajamma had told them that she could not give more than Rs two lakh.

There used to be frequent quarrels between Rajamma and the foursome over the issue, police said.

Ashwini had come to Rajamma’s house on Saturday night and they were engaged in a conversation, when Sunil and another person barged into the house and demanded money.

There was an exchange of heated words. In a fit of rage, Sunil hacked Rajamma with a lethal weapon and went out. She died soon after. A shocked Ashwini went outside and informed the neighbours who alerted Dhanalakshmi, police said.  The police took Sunil and others into custody on Sunday night for interrogation.