JOIN USA polytechnic lecturer hacked his wife to death in a fit of rage after she declined to give in to his wish and discontinue her postgraduate education. The incident occurred at Manjunathnagar in Basaveshwarnagar on October 21.
The Basaveshwarnagar police have arrested Santosh Kumar (32), a lecturer with the electronics department of Nadgir Polytechnic in Rajajinagar. The deceased, Preetha (28), was a third semester M Tech student of BMS College in Basavanagudi.
Preetha’s parents have donated her heart, eyes, liver and kidneys. The body was taken for burial to Arige village in Shimoga district, her native place. “My sister wanted to complete her postgraduation, but her husband opposed it. They used to quarrel frequently. He murdered my sister as she did not yield to his pressure,” Preetha’s brother Praveen said.Santosh is from Bookasandra village in the Kadur taluk of Chikmagalur.
Preetha had completed her BTech from Shimoga. She joined the MTech programme at BMS College in Bangalore and lived with a relative at Dasarahalli.
Santosh and Preetha were married on February 7, 2013, in Shimoga. The couple rented a first floor apartment at Manjunathnagar. The owner lived in the second floor, the police said.
Santosh was opposed to Preetha pursuing her postgraduation. He instead wanted her to discontinue studies and stay at home. But Preetha was firm on completing her MTech. The couple were at loggerheads over the issue, the police said.
Santosh allegedly asked Preetha to stay back on the evening of October 21. When Preetha declined to oblige, an irked Santosh hit her on the head three times with a machete. A heavily bleeding Preetha collapsed. Neither the landlord nor another tenant were present at the time of the incident. Even the other neighbours did not intervene, said the police. Santosh calmed down soon. He admitted Preetha to Columbia Aisa Hospital at Yeshwanthpur, where doctors declared her brain dead. Santosh confessed to the doctors that he had attacked his wife. Preetha was shifted to the ICU, said the police.
Doctors, however, failed to revive her. Preetha died at 10:15 pm on Tuesday. Based on Praveen’s complaint, the police arrested Santosh at Modi Road on Wednesday.
A judge remanded him in judicial custody, said the police.
Santosh’s colleagues said he had joined the polytechnic in July last year.
But he did not come to work for the last two months citing personal reasons.