MUSURU: Police cracked the Mandya case in which a woman, her three children and a nephew were murdered on the intervening night of February 5 and 6. The woman’s first cousin who allegedly had an affair with the husband of the deceased has been arrested.
On February 6, Lakshmi, 37, her three children – Komala, 8, Raj, 10, and Kunal, 6 – as well as Lakshmi’s nephew Govinda, 13, were found murdered in her home in Krishna Raja Sagar.
Police’s suspicion fell on Lakshmi’s paternal first cousin, also called Lakshmi, who lived in Mysuru, After questioning her, the police came out with details that revolve around the affair that the cousin was having with the now-deceased Lakshmi’s husband Gangaram, a trader in plastic goods. He was not at home on the night of the murder,
Police said his wife had found out about Gangaram’s affair and told him to not meet her cousin. Gangaram avoided meeting the accused, which seemed to have angered her. The cousin tried to sow discord between the husband and the wife by making anonymous calls. When things did not work out, she allegedly plotted to eliminate Gangaram’s wife, police said.
On February 5, Lakshmi summoned her Mysuru cousin to her house. They had an argument about the affair till 2 am on February 6. The accused, who allegedly intended to kill her cousin, had brought a hammer and a butcher’s knife along with her. She had borrowed the knife from a butcher in Mysuru. After returning home, she cleaned the knife and returned it to him.
After Lakshmi retired to bed, her cousin allegedly hit her on the head with the hammer which made her unconscious. She then smothered her to death with a pillow.
Srirangapatna Deputy SP SN Sandesh Kumar said she killed the children because they woke up on hearing noise. She spent nearly two hours in the house and left for Mysuru in a bus. On the night of the murder, the husband of the accused was in Tamil Nadu and her two children were at home in Mysuru, he said.
On February 6, Lakshmi, 37, her three children – Komala, 8, Raj, 10, and Kunal, 6 – as well as Lakshmi’s nephew Govinda, 13, were found murdered in her home in Krishna Raja Sagar.
Police’s suspicion fell on Lakshmi’s paternal first cousin, also called Lakshmi, who lived in Mysuru, After questioning her, the police came out with details that revolve around the affair that the cousin was having with the now-deceased Lakshmi’s husband Gangaram, a trader in plastic goods. He was not at home on the night of the murder,
Police said his wife had found out about Gangaram’s affair and told him to not meet her cousin. Gangaram avoided meeting the accused, which seemed to have angered her. The cousin tried to sow discord between the husband and the wife by making anonymous calls. When things did not work out, she allegedly plotted to eliminate Gangaram’s wife, police said.
On February 5, Lakshmi summoned her Mysuru cousin to her house. They had an argument about the affair till 2 am on February 6. The accused, who allegedly intended to kill her cousin, had brought a hammer and a butcher’s knife along with her. She had borrowed the knife from a butcher in Mysuru. After returning home, she cleaned the knife and returned it to him.
After Lakshmi retired to bed, her cousin allegedly hit her on the head with the hammer which made her unconscious. She then smothered her to death with a pillow.
Srirangapatna Deputy SP SN Sandesh Kumar said she killed the children because they woke up on hearing noise. She spent nearly two hours in the house and left for Mysuru in a bus. On the night of the murder, the husband of the accused was in Tamil Nadu and her two children were at home in Mysuru, he said.
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