Bengaluru Police has arrested an 18-year-old teenager on murder charges in connection with the death of a 34-year-old woman software engineer, who was initially suspected to have died in a fire accident, at her apartment in the eastern part of the city.
The accused, identified as Karnal Kurrai, is a native of Kodagu district. The investigation revealed that the accused, who entered the woman's house with the intention of sexually assaulting her, allegedly strangled her to death and then set her house on fire to destroy evidence and make it appear like a fire accident.
Techie was found dead in her flat
The victim, DK Sharmila, who hailed from Dakshina Kannada, worked for a prominent tech company in Bengaluru. She was found dead on January 3 after a fire broke out in her flat at Subramanya Layout in the Ramamurthy Nagar police station limits of Bengaluru East, prompting investigators to suspect death due to suffocation from smoke initially. A detailed investigation later revealed that she had been murdered.
Her flatmate had gone to her hometown when the incident happened.
Based on a complaint from a close friend of the victim, Ramamurthy Nagar police registered a case of unnatural death. However, when the case was investigated further, a different truth emerged. Forensic officials found no evidence of an electrical fault, and the post-mortem report revealed that Sharmila died not from burns but from suffocation.
Based on technical evidence, the police traced Karnal Kurai, who is a PUC student and Sharmila's neighbor.
Teen entered the woman's flat through window
According to police, the suspect, who lived with his mother next door, allegedly entered the victim's flat through a siding window at around 9 pm on January 3. He allegedly asked her to cooperate sexually, to which she resisted. He is then said to have held her mouth and nose tightly, rendering her unconscious. She suffered a minor injury and was bleeding.
To conceal the crime, Kurai gathered her clothes and other belongings in the bedroom and set them on fire before fleeing with her mobile phone. Kurrai, a resident of Virajpet, lived in Bengaluru with his single mother.
Police arrested the accused on Saturday. He has been charged under sections 103(1), 64(2), 66, and 238 of the BNS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita). The accused will remain in police custody for three days while further investigation is underway.
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