3 booked for killing 19-year-old man in Karnataka hate crime: Police
The man, who belonged to a lower caste, was killed minutes in Karnataka’s Vijayapura district after the 17-year-old girl appeared to have died by suicide on September 24, police said, adding that her father and uncle have been arrested while her grandfather was on the run.
Three relatives of a 17-year-old girl have been booked in connection with the murder of a 19-year-old man over an alleged inter-caste relationship in Karnataka’s Vijayapura district, police said on Saturday.
The man, who belonged to a lower caste, was killed minutes after the 17-year-old girl appeared to have died by suicide on September 24, police said, adding that her father and uncle have been arrested while her grandfather was on the run.
According to the police, the accused forced the man to consume poison, stuffed his body inside a gunny bag and threw it into the Krishna River.
They have confessed to the crime, Vijayapura superintendent of police (SP) Ananda Kumar told HT. “They claimed that they found the couple in an intimate position in a grape estate owned by the girl’s family in Hadarihal village,” he said. “The girl panicked and consumed pesticide kept in a storeroom nearby.”
The three accused then caught hold of the man and made him drink the same poison, he added. “When they realised he was dead, they stuffed both bodies in separate gunny bags and threw them in the Krishna River.”
Police have recovered the man’s body and search was underway to find the girl’s body, said the SP. “Based on their confession, the police have registered a murder case against the three and the two arrested have been remanded to judicial custody.”
Both families were opposed to their relationship, he said. “In the past, the girl’s family, who belong to an upper caste, had threatened the man to stay away from her. Even then they continued their relationship.”
According to police, the 19-year-old had completed his pre-university degree and met the girl while studying in the district’s Tikota taluk around two years ago. The man’s family then sent him to Banahatti in Bagalkote district, around 80km from Vijayapura, to prepare for defence services examination.
Officers from the Bilagi police, who are investigating the case, said on September 17, the man had come to his hometown to appear for an examination. On September 23, his parents filed a missing person’s complaint with the police in their hometown. Soon after, the girl’s parents also filed a complaint claiming she had gone missing, Bilagi police circle inspector Sivananda Sangamesh told HT.
Police began their investigation on the suspicion that the couple had eloped. However, the man’s body was fished from the Krishna river at Bilagi village, around 70km away, on September 26.
“Following an investigation, we arrested the girl’s father and uncle on Friday in connection with the case,” said Sangamesh. “The police are on the lookout for the girl’s grandfather who was also involved in the murder.”
Police have called in swimming experts to locate her body. “There are crocodiles in the river, making the search difficult,” said the SP.
(With inputs from Arun Dev)