The Kolar Rural police on Sunday arrested a farmer who had allegedly stamped his 19-year-old daughter to death over her alleged relationship with a boy from a different community and buried her body in his field at Thotli village on the outskirts of Kolar district on Friday.
The incident came to light when a patrolling policeman overheard rumours in the village about the mysterious death of Ramya and reported the matter to Superintendent of Police M. Narayana.
Mr. Narayana sent a few policemen in mufti to gather more details and arrested Venkatesh Gowda, 50, after confirming the facts. “It looks like an honour killing,” Mr. Narayana told The Hindu. The accused was agitated about his only daughter, Ramya, who was working in a private firm, for always being on her phone chatting with a minor boy from the neighbouring village.
The accused got to know that the boy worked as a mechanic and belonged to a ‘lower’ caste and warned his daughter to stay away from him. However, Ramya continued to chat with him regularly. Enraged by this, Venkatesh, on the night of August 25, allegedly stamped Ramya to death. The next day, he hurriedly performed the last rites stating that Ramya had died due to illness and buried the body in his field, said the police.
As the news spread, villagers started expressing suspicion over her death and the matter somehow reached the patrolling policeman. On Sunday, the police, along with revenue officials, exhumed the body from the field to perform an inquest.
The accused was arrested for murder and also trying to conceal the crime. He has been taken into custody for further investigation.
“The victim was chatting with the minor boy and used to be constantly busy on her phone, which irked the family. There are many other ways to deal with such problems, like counselling. There is a need for awareness among people on how to handle such issues and the police along with the authorities concerned are planning a programme at college and school levels,” Mr. Narayana said.
