Daijiworld Media Network – Mysuru
Mysuru, Jun 27: In a shocking turn of events, a tribal man who spent nearly two years in prison for allegedly murdering his wife has now approached the high court (HC), seeking Rs 5 crore in compensation and criminal action against the police officers who arrested him—after his wife was later found alive.
Suresh, a resident of Basavanahalli in Kushalnagar taluk and belonging to the Kuruba community, was acquitted with full honours by the 5th additional district and sessions court of Mysuru in April 2025. The court had directed the Karnataka home department to pay him Rs 1 lac as compensation. Dissatisfied with this, Suresh has now filed a criminal appeal in the high court.
In his petition, Suresh has named five police officials—then investigating officer Prakash B J, additional superintendent of police Jitendra Kumar, sub-inspectors Prakash Yattimani and Mahesh B K, and assistant sub-inspector Somashekar. He alleges that the officers tampered with evidence, abused their official positions, and arrested him without following proper procedures. He has sought both financial damages and criminal proceedings against them.
The incident dates back to before 2021. After his wife, Mallige, went missing, Suresh had filed a missing person complaint. In 2022, skeletal remains were discovered in the jurisdiction of Bettadapura police station in neighbouring Mysuru district. Though the remains were not clearly identifiable, police suspected they belonged to Mallige and arrested Suresh on murder charges—even though DNA test results did not match.
Suresh remained in custody for approximately 18 months until the court confirmed the DNA evidence did not belong to Mallige. He was then granted bail and released.
In April 2025, Mallige was spotted by one of Suresh’s friends while she was dining at a restaurant in Madikeri. She was soon taken into custody by Bettadapura police and produced before a Mysuru court. Her reappearance raised serious concerns over the mishandling and misinterpretation of forensic evidence and indicated either negligence or deliberate wrongdoing in the investigation.
While the sessions court had recommended legal action against inspector Prakash B J for evidence tampering, Suresh has requested that all five named officers be held criminally liable in his high court appeal. He has also asked the court to replace the term ‘accused’ with ‘scapegoat’ in the sessions court’s verdict to reflect the injustice he endured.
Investigations are currently ongoing to determine where Mallige had been for the past three years and the circumstances behind her disappearance.