Elderly woman found murdered

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: From getting robbed, cheated and even murdered for property and valuables, senior citizens in the city are surely a vulnerable lot. In the latest incident, an 82-year-old woman who lived alone in Mahalakshmi Layout here was found dead with her hands tied with a tape and her mouth gagged. It is suspected that the woman had died of shock and suffocation.

The deceased woman has been identified as Kamala. It is learnt that she was living in a house built by her husband in Nagapura of Mahalakshmi Layout in Bengaluru.

Speaking to News Trail, one of the neighbours, Muniamma, said, "Kamala was living alone after her husband died six months ago. Her children, two daughters and a son live separately in the city.” Kamala's son, Guru Prasad, a resident of Whitefield, later filed a complaint with the jurisdictional police. According to the police, the heart-wrenching incident took place between 4 pm and 7 pm on Saturday. Her body was found around 7.15 pm by one of her neighbours who came to see Kamala in the evening.

"The assailants broke into the house and tied up the hands and feet of the deceased before robbing her of the jewellery she was wearing. So far the investigation has revealed that gold ornaments weighing 55-60 grams have been taken away by the assailants. The probe is still on," sources from the police said.

The jurisdictional police have recorded the statements of the neighbours, relatives and friends of the deceased woman in order to get a clue about the accused persons. CCTV footage around the area has also been procured and the crime scene was inspected with the assistance of a dog squad.

Sources from the police also said that the investigative team is obtaining the CDR details from the mobile phone of the deceased in order to check calls made and received by Kamala before she was attacked. The police expressed suspicion that the assailants may be someone known to the woman. However they said that more details will be revealed after the investigation is complete.

Recent such cases

February 13 2023 – A 32-year-old jobless youth was arrested for hiring supari killers to murder his 70-year-old father over a property dispute. January 3 2023 – A 57-year-old woman was gagged and tied up inside her own house by two of her housekeeping staff in Kumaraswamy Layout. The accused stole valuables worth Rs 3.5 lakh from the house. September 8 2022 – A retired teacher and a home alone woman, Prasanna Kumari, 65, was strangled to death by unidentified assailants who also stole valuables from her rented house in Vidyaranyapura.