Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (RJP)
Bengaluru, Jan 31: They came together through Facebook. A year and a baby later, the same Facebook became reason for ending the relationship with two murders by the man.
S K Raju, a Reliance warehouse employee, killed his wife Sushma and her 3-month old baby boy in cold blood.
Just three months back the couple had started living together with their love child.
The reason for the murder was, Sushma led a colourful social media life. She was active on Facebook and Instagram, chatting with unknown men. Raju suspected that she was having multiple affairs.
On January 19 evening, Raju, who was living with Sushma and their 3-month-old baby in a rented house at Madanayakanahalli, planned a bike trip to Hassan.
After reaching Mysuru Road, he took a deviation inside Hejjala forest near Kumbalagodu, saying it was a short-cut to Wonderla which they were going to visit. He stopped at an isolated place and killed Sushma. He then smothered the baby and set the bodies on fire with petrol from the bike.
Incidentally, the spot was just a few kilometers away from Eagleton resort in Bidadi where the Congress MLAs were lodged due to a political drama at that time.
The next day, a forest guard on his rounds noticed the half-burnt body of a woman in Hejjala plantation and alerted Bidadi police. The Bidadi police rushed to the spot and took up investigations.
Later, upon checking complaints about missing people in the city, they learnt that Sushma's father had filed a complaint about his daughter and infant before Madanayakanahalli police on January 26. He was called to the station and shown the belongings and photographs of Sushma. He confirmed it was his daughter.
Bidadi police picked up Raju and during interrogation, he confessed to killing Sushma and the baby. He told police that Sushma was chatting with other men on Facebook and took no interest in domestic chores or taking care of the child.
Raju was arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
The police have not found the infant's body. They suspect some wild animals would have consumed the remains. The area is said to have a considerable population of leopards.
Sushma, a native of Tumakuru, had come in contact with Raju after he sent her a friend request on Facebook. The chat soon gave way to a physical relationship after which she got pregnant.
After Sushma gave birth to the baby, the couple started to living together upon parents’ insistence.