BENGALURU: He took his fiancée from a relative’s house, saying they would visit a temple in Shravanabelagola on his motorbike, but it turned out to be the last ride for the girl, who died due to an accident, as claimed by the man.
However, the needle of suspicion later pointed towards the man, as the ‘circumstances’ such as injuries noticed on the deceased was not the result of an accident, but due to homicide! The autopsy report also proved it, but the lower court committed a mistake and acquitted him.
The mother of the deceased and the state government challenged his acquittal before the High Court. They managed to debunk the ‘accident’ theory of the accused, convincing the court of the heinous crime committed by him.
The High Court eventually convicted L.C. Raghu on charges of killing his fiancée Chaitra and sentenced him with life imprisonment.
It was no different from a typical crime thriller from the movies, wherein the killer dresses up a murder as an accident, and then goes scot-free.
In this case, Raghu had strangulated the victim and hit her to death and then made it look like a road accident. He even faked injuries and got admitted to a hospital.
Chaitra was engaged to the accused three months prior to the accident. A relative received a phone call that Chaitra has died following an accident and her body was on tank bund of Agalaya in K.R. Pete Taluk. When they rushed to the spot, they found the body of the victim and also noticed injuries besides the motorbike of the accused and his helmet lying on the road.
The police who conducted the investigation said that a person committed murder by strangulation and also hit on her head and created a scene that it was a case of road accident by keeping the body on the road and the motorbike and helmet by the roadside in a lying position. He also got himself admitted to S.S.M. Hospital in Hassan for the injuries he purported to have sustained in the accident, police said.
The opinion of the medical officer, who conducted the autopsy of the deceased, said the death was due to combined effect of asphyxia consequent to ligature pressure over neck and coma consequent to head injury. “From the above reasoning, it is a clear case of homicidal death and accused ought to have explained the circumstances under which death of the deceased occurred. But it has not been done. The learned trial Judge has committed an error in acquitting the accused, and the other two who supported his claims during the trial,” prosecution argued.
“We are of the opinion that the prosecution was able to prove the case against accused Raghu and the trial Judge has committed an error in considering the evidence available on record both oral and documentary and it is not in the right perspective,” the High Court observed in its judgment while convicting Raghu for murder.
It further added that no damage is caused to the motorcycle in which accused and deceased travelled and the same also supports the prosecution’s claim. If an accident had really taken place, there would have been damage to the motorcycle and it is also one of the circumstances which goes against the accused, the court said.
The High Court, in its order, sentenced Raghu to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life and to pay a fine of `1 lakh to the mother of the deceased.
