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POLICE ON Sunday said they have arrested an 18-year-old student for allegedly killing a 34-year-old woman software engineer, who was initially suspected to have died in a fire accident at her rented house in Bengaluru. They said the suspect killed the woman for spurning his advances.
Police said the suspect is from the neighbourhood where the victim, Sharmila D Kushalappa, lived in a two-bedroom house.
On 3 January, Sharmila was found dead at her house after a fire broke out. Police initially suspected that she died due to suffocation.
Police registered a case after one of Sharmila’s friends, in his statement, suspected foul play. The autopsy report suggested that Sharmila had died due to suffocation but there were some fresh minor injuries on her body.
According to the initial probe, police suspected that the fire was caused by a short-circuit. Later, it was found that the fire had originated from her flatmate’s room.
“We found that there was arson and we then started checking the burnt belongings in the house. What we could not find was Sharmila’s mobile phone, even in a burnt state. Going through technical evidence, we found the suspect was using the same mobile phone,” said a police officer.
Upon questioning, the suspect spilled the beans. “He entered Sharmila’s house through the window around 9 pm, aware that her flatmate had gone to her home state Assam. He asked her to ‘co-operate’, which she resisted,” the police officer said. The suspect then allegedly held her mouth and nose tightly, rendering her unconscious, he said. He then threw her clothes and other evidence on the bed and set the house on fire to destroy evidence, and fled.
