Bengaluru woman killed over suspected affair; husband claimed 'accidental electric shock', arrested

Bengaluru: The Hebbagodi police have arrested a man for allegedly murdering his wife and attempting to pass it off as an accidental electric shock.

Prashanth Kumar, 25, an electrician from Maragondanahalli, Anekal, was taken into custody for killing his wife, Reshma (32).

Police said that on October 15, Reshma’s daughter from her previous marriage found her mother unconscious in the bathroom. She and neighbours rushed Reshma to the hospital, where doctors declared her dead.

“When questioned, the husband claimed that his wife had been bathing with an electric heating rod in the bucket and may have died due to an electric shock,” a police statement said.

Reshma’s daughter later told her aunt that Kumar had recently been quarrelling with her mother, suspecting she was communicating with another man.

“When she returned home from school around 5 pm, the house gate and front door were open, and the bathroom latch was locked from the outside. Upon opening it, she found her mother lying unconscious in the bathroom,” the statement added.

Following this, the aunt approached the police, who registered a murder case.

On October 16, Kumar was arrested near Hosur Main Road.

During interrogation, he allegedly confessed that, in a fit of rage fuelled by suspicion of an extramarital relationship, he assaulted and strangled his wife.

“To conceal the crime, he left her body in the bathroom and switched on the water heater.

"Reshma had been previously married; her first husband died due to an illness within a year of their marriage. About nine months ago, she had met Kumar from Huvina Hadagali taluk via Instagram and married him,” police said.