Mar 21, 2013
BANGALORE: A home-alone woman was on Wednesday found murdered in the second such incident in as many days.
On Tuesday, a 26-year-old woman was found done to death in Chamarajpet, and police are yet to get clues in the case.
Real estate agent Sujatha Reddy, 45, was found lying in a pool of blood with her throat slit when a relative came home looking for her at her house in Yashodha Nagar, opposite Jakkur airfield. The victim was found in her innerwear.
Although some pieces of jewellery were missing from her person, police saw it as a ploy by the killer to present the murder as one for gain. Evidence suggested it was either a passion crime or an outcome of business rivalry.
Hailing from Mulbagal, Kolar district, Sujatha had been staying in Bangalore for many years. After her husband Eshwar Reddy, a lecturer, died three years ago, she leased out a house in Yashodha Nagar. The victim’s two daughters, Manasa and Meghna, are married.
Aunt Swarna Gauri told The Times of India that Sujatha called her around 9pm on Tuesday. “As her second daughter had filed for a divorce, she asked me to accompany her to court on Wednesday. When I was near Sanjaynagar, I called Sujatha, but her phone was switched off. Since calls didn’t go through, I decided to check on her,” she said.
Swarna Gauri found Sujatha’s house latched from outside. She opened the door and walked in, calling out for Sujatha. To her shock, she found her dead in her bedroom.
Investigations said Sujatha had a visitor on Tuesday night. “We are certain someone known to her had come to the house on Tuesday. We found beer bottles in the house. Since the doors were intact, the visitor could be a friend. We suspect that the victim was forced to the ground and her throat slit,” a police officer investigating the case said.
Forensic and dog squads were brought to the spot for further investigation. The lone sniffer dog ran up to a bar nearby before the trail went cold.
Deputy commissioner of police (north east) T R Suresh said: “We are trying to ascertain the identity of the visitor as probabilities are high that that person could be the murderer. Some ornaments are missing from the victim’s body, but not all. The dead woman lay face down. We are yet to recover the murder weapon.”
Police said Sujatha had two cellphones, of which one was out of order. Experts will analyze the call logs, and police officers hope this could provide leads in the case.
(TNN )
