Daijiworld Media Network - Beltangady (SP)

Beltangady, Oct 15: The body of a married woman named Shakuntala alias Ashwini (27), was found hanging from the ceiling of her home at Govindoor near Gerukatte in the taluk on the afternoon of Wednesday October 14. While the family of her in-laws insisted that it was a case of suicide, her parents and brothers termed it as murder.

Shakuntala had married Prashant from Govindoor about four years back. She has left behind a male child that is 22 months old.

It is learnt that the family members of Shakuntala had left home on Wednesday to attend a programme, leaving Shakuntala, her child, and her mother-in-law behind. It is gathered that till 11 am Shakuntala was seen washing clothes. Mother-in-law of the victim said that after hearing inconsolable wails of the child thereafter, she searched for her daughter-in-law, but saw that her room had been bolted from inside. She said she peeped through the window and saw Shakuntala hanging from a rope.

She conveyed this information to other people immediately, whereupon the door was broken and the lady was brought down. Before arrangements could be made to take her to the hospital, the family came to know that she had already died. Thereafter, this information was conveyed to the police station.

Shakuntala's mother, Monakka from Mani in Bantwal taluk, in her complaint to the local police, said that her daughter did not face any crisis that could have necessitated sacrificing of her life. She said her daughter loved her child very much, and suspected that it could be a case of murder. Her brothers also stressed that there was no possibility of their sister giving up her life.

The victim's parents, who said that their demand is to bring out the truth, expressed apprehension that political clout might be used to twist the truth. They demanded for conducting postmortem of the body at a hospital in Deralakatte instead of Wenlock Hospital Mangaluru. Their demand was met, and the body was taken to Deralakatte.

MLA, K Vasant Bangera, visited the spot. Tahsildar, Prasanna Kumar, deputy tahsildar, Chennappa Gowda, police circle inspector, Lingappa B R, and police sub-inspector, Madhava Koodlu also visited the spot and guided the investigation. A case was registered in the town police station here.