Indian Woman Nikitha Godishala Was Found Dead In US. 8 Months Later, Killer 'Ex' Found In Agra

An Indian man wanted in connection with a deadly New Year's Eve stabbing of his ex-roommate in the United States has been taken into custody after fleeing to India, police have confirmed. Arjun Sharma (26), the suspect in the murder of Nikitha Godishala (27), was tracked down to a flat in Agra by a team from Hyderabad police during the investigation of a cheating case registered based on a complaint lodged by the victim's father, Anand Godishala.

Godishala, a resident of Ellicott City in America, was reported missing on January 2. Howard County police said that she was found dead with stab wounds in the Columbia, Maryland, apartment of her ex-roommate, Arjun Sharma.

The Howard County Police Department announced that it has been notified by international authorities that Sharma is now in custody in India and is expected to be extradited to the US. But police did not have a timeline for his return. 

Police described Sharma as Godishala's ex-boyfriend, but her father told the media that the two were roommates and that he believed her killing was financially motivated. 

The US police had obtained a warrant for Sharma's arrest on first- and second-degree murder charges, alleging that he killed her and fled to India.

Case In India

Godishala's family was officially informed by authorities in India on January 4 that Nikitha had sustained multiple stab wounds and that her death is believed to have occurred on December 31, 2025.

The cheating case was registered in Telangana against Sharma in April following a complaint that he had cheated the woman after taking money from her and did not return it, a Hyderabad police official said.

"During the investigation, after getting certain clues, a police team was sent to Agra, which caught the accused in a flat, and a notice was issued to him (in connection with the cheating case). Since a case was already registered against him in the US and an NBW was pending, the central authorities were informed," the official told news agency PTI.

Sharma was then produced before the Patiala House Court in New Delhi by the central agencies, which remanded him on August 25 in connection with the murder case, the official further said.

Godishala had been living in the US for the last four years and was working as a data and strategy analyst there. Her family, which stays in Hyderabad, welcomed Sharma's arrest in Delhi as an important breakthrough.

According to information communicated to the family and subsequent court proceedings, Sharma was arrested following the execution of non-bailable warrants and was taken into custody by a Delhi court, a statement from the family read. 

According to her parents, Sharma lost his employment around August–September 2025 and subsequently borrowed money from Godishala and her family members. They say financial disputes involving money allegedly owed to Nikitha existed before her death and that Sharma also had financial dealings with others in the United States, the statement added.