Bengaluru: Minor murders elder cousin

Bengaluru: A minor girl, who had strangled her elder cousin to death on September 11 and staged it as a suicide, could not deceive the doctors conducting the postmortem on the deceased’s body.

Based on the postmortem report, which established the death to be a murder, the Mico Layout police took custody of the 17-year-old and sent her to the state children’s home after she confessed to the crime.

The accused, along with the deceased, Rajeshwari (20), was working as a domestic help at a residence in BTM Layout Second Stage. In the early hours of September 11, the sisters fought over an old trivial issue and in a fit of rage, the accused strangled Rajeshwari to death. Both the accused and the deceased are from Hindupur in Andhra Pradesh and had come to the city for work six months ago, the police said.

The accused girl gathered the neighbours in the morning and told them that her sister had hanged herself, and she had slept next to the body overnight thinking that her sister was only unconscious. No one could doubt the story as only two of them were at the house at the time of the incident, the police said.

It is learnt that the accused frequently fought with Rajeshwari over the latter having a boyfriend. Whenever Rajeshwari talked to her boyfriend or SMSed him, the accused objected and asked her to end the relationship. 

This had led to scuffles between them many times earlier. But on September 11, the fight took an ugly turn and ended in the murder.

Accused tried to fool neighbours
 Early on September 11 morning, the accused tried to wake up Rajeshwari, only to learn that she was dead. She then left the house and came back after some time, to make it appear for the neighbours that she was entering the house then. After some time, she started shouting that her sister had committed suicide and that she saw her body when she entered the house. The neighbours took Rajeshwari to a hospital where she  was declared brought dead. The doctor informed the Mico Layout police as he found injury marks on the body of the deceased. The police had suspected foul play at the initial stage and it was confirmed when the postmortem report came.