Bengaluru techie murder: Teen neighbour killed her for resisting his sexual advances, torched flat to hide crime; What we know so far about this case

A suspected case of asphyxiation due to smoke from fire in a Bengaluru flat took a dramatic turn when post-mortem report revealed arson in the Sharmila DK, a 34-year-old software engineer's death.

Police investigation led to the arrest of an 18-year-old man for murdering Sharmila after she rejected his sexual advances.

The man has been identified as Karnal Kurai, a PUC student and Sharmila's neigbhour. He is from the Kodagu district and lives with his single mother in Bengaluru.

Sharmila hailed from the Dakshin Kannada district and worked for a prominent tech company in Bengaluru. She lived in a two-bedroom flat with her roommate at Sankalpa Nilaya in Subramanya Layout.

She was believed to have died in the fire accident at her flat earlier this month. The incident was reported on January 3 between 10:15 pm and 10:45 pm. By the time the firefighters had controlled the fire, Sharmila had burnt alive.

Officials suspected a short circuit as the fire had broken out in the room used by the victim's roommate, who has been away in her hometown in Assam since November 14, 2025.

However, one of Sharmila's friends suspected deliberate fire, leading to jurisdictional Ramamurthy Nagar police to open a case of unnatural death.

A forensic analysis team that examined the body and Scene Of Crime Officers (SOCO) investigated the flat and found no evidence of a short circuit causing the fire.

Further investigations found that Kurai allegedly snuck through a sliding window into her flat at around 9 pm and asked made sexual initiations.

Kurai held her mouth and nose when Sharmila declined the initiation, leaving her unconscious. This had also led to bleeding injuries, according to the police.

The man then went to the vacant bedroom, gathered some clothes and other "incriminating materials" and attempted to destroy evidence by setting the house on fire before fleeing with Sharmila's mobile phone.

Police arrested Kurai from his house on Sunday, while further investigations are underway.

He has been booked under BNS sections 103(1) (punishment for murder), 64(2) (punishment for rape), 66 (punishment for causing death or resulting in persistent vegetative state of victim) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender).

With DHNS inputs