The Gauribidanur police on Wednesday arrested a 60-year-old farmer and his 37-year-old female friend on the charges of murdering a woman on Sunday.
The accused Sanjevappa, owner of three acres of land and also accused of encroaching on government grazing land, allegedly had an illicit affair with Ramanjinamma and the deceased Almelamma, who used to work in his field as a daily wage labourer .
According to the police, the trio used to drink regularly on the field. On Sunday too, they had alcohol and passed out. Police suspect that due to the hot weather, Almelamma suffered from dehydration as she had not eaten anything, had been drinking since morning and died while sleeping.
The duo woke up in the evening and found Almelamma dead. Fearing of getting caught, the duo carried the body and dumped it in an isolated place before returning home. The incident came to light when Almelamma’s family noticed that she had been missing since three days and approached the police. The villagers and police later discovered the highly decomposed body.
The police during initial probe found that Almelamma was found last with Sanjevappa and picked him up for questioning. Detailed questioning led to him to confess to the crime.
The police booked the duo under murder and are waiting for the post mortem report to ascertain the cause of death and for further investigations.
