Bengaluru: The man who stabbed his second wife 11 times in full public view, resulting in her death, surrendered before the police in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
The accused has been identified as 43-year-old Lohitashwa, also known as Lokesh, a native of Sira town in Tumakuru district.
The incident took place on Monday in front of the victim, Rekha’s 12-year-old daughter.
DCP (West) S. Girish stated on Tuesday that the accused voluntarily surrendered before the police and has been booked under Section 103 of the BNS Act. He added that Lokesh committed the crime out of suspicion that his wife was involved with other men, a claim that appears unfounded at this stage.
According to police, the victim, Rekha, a divorcee and mother of two daughters, had recently married Lokesh. It was also his second marriage. Rekha, a private company employee, had left her younger daughter with her parents and kept the elder one with her. Lokesh objected to this and demanded that she send the elder daughter away, but Rekha refused.
In addition, Lokesh grew suspicious of Rekha, who worked at a private company, believing she was having affairs at her workplace. On Monday, when Rekha was standing at a bus stop near Sunkadakatte in Bengaluru, Lokesh followed her and stabbed her 11 times in the chest and other parts of the body in front of her daughter. Even as bystanders tried to stop him, he threatened them and went ahead with the brutal assault.
He later threw the knife towards the public and fled from the spot.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Lokesh, a cab driver, and Rekha, a native of Channarayapatna in Hassan, had met through friends while working in the same company. They had been in a live-in relationship for about one and a half years before deciding to get married recently.
The couple had rented a house in Sunkadakatte, where Lokesh frequently quarrelled with Rekha over her elder daughter. On the day of the murder, the two had a bitter fight at home. Rekha then left the house with her daughter, but an enraged Lokesh followed her and committed the crime.
Kamakshipalya police have taken up further investigation.
(IANS)
