'Kidnap':Man on parole performs father's last rights

The funeral of Somashekhar, a 73-year old man who died of cardiac arrest due to the arrest of his son Deviprasad for allegedly kidnapping and marrying a girl, was held at Cheriyaperambu in Murnadu on Thursday morning.

Arrested Deviprasad arrived at the funeral spot for offering last rites to his father, amidst tight police security. Bangalore police brought him to the venue on parole and allowed him to offer the last rites. On his arrival, his grief-sticken mother Sunanda could not stop her emotions and cried defending her son. “My son is not a culprit. He has not harassed his wife,” she said. Soon after the funeral, police took back Deviprasad to Bangalore.

It could be recalled that Deviprasad, the son of Somashekhar, married Ramya, a resident of Bangalore, after they both fell in love with each other through a social networking site.
It was said that Ramya’s family was against the marriage. Neighbours of Deviprasad claim that the couple lived happily for three months, after their marriage.

Things were normal, till the disappearance of Ramya in the last week of August. On August 28, Deviprasad filed a complaint at Madikeri rural police station stating that his wife Ramya was missing and suspected that her parents could have kidnapped her. However, the incident took a U-turn, when Ramya’s father, a jeep driver with a senior police officer in Bangalore, lodged a complaint in Siddapura police station in Bangalore on September 1, stating that Deviprasad had kidnapped her daughter.

On September 2, a police accompanied by Ramya’s family members barged into the house of Deviprasad and arrested him, and even manhandled his parents. As the incident occurred, Somashekhar suffered a cardiac arrest and was admitted to a hospital in Madikeri. He died in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Deviprasad’s mother Sunanda has lodged a complaint at Madikeri rural police station, stating that Ramya’s father Venugopal, Naveen, Shashi and eight others who barged into their house on September 2, assaulted the family members, which was the reason for her husband’s death. The gang has also taken away golden jeweleries and cash of Rs 26,000 from the cupboard, she alleged.