Bengaluru Woman Bleeds Out After Attack As Helpless Husband Lies Motionless

A 70-year-old woman was murdered in her home in Bengaluru's Nelamangala while her paralysed husband lay beside her, apparently unaware of the attack.

The victim, Shobha, lived with her husband Ranganath in Kote Beedi in the Hirapur locality of Nelamangala. The couple had no children and lived alone. Ranganath has reportedly been paralysed and bedridden for the past 15 years. On the day of the incident, the couple had returned home after their routine morning walk.

The murder was discovered when a doctor arrived at the house to provide physiotherapy to Ranganath and found Shobha, her throat slit, lying dead next to her husband. Ranganath was lying next to her, seemingly oblivious to what had occurred.

A video that has emerged from the scene shows Shobha's blood-soaked body on the bed, with Ranganath lying beside her, appearing unaware of the events

Police have arrested a man named Shivakumar, a wholesale shop owner, who is accused of entering the house around 1:03 am and slitting Shobha's throat in front of her husband.

According to the police, the motive was financial gain. Shobha, the daughter of a jewellery shop owner, was wearing significant gold ornaments at the time. After the killing, Shivakumar searched the house for cash. 

Finding none, he removed her chain, bangles, and other gold ornaments. Police estimate that around 450 grams of gold jewellery, valued at approximately Rs 65 lakh, was stolen.

CCTV footage captured the accused fleeing the area on a motorcycle shortly after the crime. Police traced the vehicle registration number using nearby cameras. In a further development, police sources say Shivakumar returned to the crime scene during the initial police inspection, posing as an onlooker among the gathering crowd. He later rode home on his Activa scooter in an effort to avoid suspicion.

The police traced the scooter's registration number, which led directly to Shivakumar. Police have seized the motorcycle, the knife used in the murder, and Shivakumar's mobile phone as evidence.