Interior designer arrested for rape and murder of woman in Hindupur lodge

ANANTAPUR: Hindupur Police arrested an interior designer, Mahesh Varma of Eturi Nagapatnam in Mulugu district of Telangana, on a charge of rape and murder of a woman in a lodge in Hindupur town in Satya Sai district on August 24.

The Dharmavaram police said on Sunday that they cracked the mystery over the suspicious death of Akshitha, a married woman of Telangana state.

Police said Mahesh Varma had been arrested in connection with the harassment of a woman in Ramachandrapuram in Telangana a year ago and later released on bail. Five months ago, when he was travelling by bus, he got close to Akshitha. He contacted her on social media by searching her profile on Instagram.

Both were speaking over the phone by video call. When he got to know that Akshitha was studying at a college in Chikaballapur in Karnataka, he went there to express his love for her. She rejected the proposal saying she was already married and having a daughter. But, he kept luring her without success. As a last resort, he threatened her that her photos will be morphed in nude and uploaded on social media if she failed to come to Hindupur. Scared, she reached Hindupur four days ago.

Varma took her to a lodge. He raped and suffocated her to death with the help of a pillow. Then he fled from the spot. Police teams investigating the case established the role of Varma and arrested him.