Landlady's alertness saved day for police

The presence of mind of the landlady Vanajamma and her tenants helped the city police nab Ishaan, who allegedly killed a Ugandan woman on Thursday. They locked him in, making it an open-and-shut case for the police. If he had escaped, the incident could have fuelled speculation and taken on racist-attack dimensions.

Vanajamma and her family heard Nakayaki, the Ugandan student, screaming at around 2 am. They rushed up to her house on the second floor only to see bloodstains everywhere. Vanajamma and her family members, with help from tenants, then locked the house from the outside, trapping Ishaan inside.

They also pacified and stopped angry Africans from entering the house. A big crowd of Africans living in the neighbourhood had gathered by then. The family held the agitated Africans at bay till about 3.00 am when the police arrived and took stock.