BENGALURU: In a gruesome triple murder, a 24-year-old techie and her live-in partner allegedly stabbed the woman’s parents and younger sister to death inside the duo’s Seegehalli apartment in east Bengaluru Monday night before making a dramatic escape.Police said a dispute over the accused woman’s unpaid bank loans, which had reportedly crossed Rs 30 lakh, was the trigger for the killings. The accused couple had kept the family in dark about their live-in relationship, which is over a year-old, said police.
Police identified the accused as M Shwetha and J Kenneth, both engineering graduates and former classmates. The victims were Shwetha’s father Somasundar, 52, mother Muthulakshmi, 48, and younger sister Supriya, 19.After several bank notices addressed to her daughter began arriving at the family’s Marathahalli residence, Muthulakshmi went to Shwetha’s flat in Seegehalli on Sunday evening. Somasundar had to repeatedly call his daughter last week to coax her into sharing her rental address, where the duo had moved in two months ago, family sources told police. Muthulakshmi stayed the night at the apartment, and by Monday evening, Somasundar and Supriya too reached the flat.What began as a verbal confrontation over the loans allegedly spiralled into a deadly attack. Around 10pm, neighbours were startled by loud screams and commotion. Moments later, a profusely bleeding Somasundar was seen on the staircase.By the time police arrived, the apartment had turned into a scene of carnage. The victims suffered dozens of stab wounds, while the accused couple vanished within minutes of the crime, triggering a massive manhunt. “There were at least 50 stab wounds on the victims’ bodies,” an investigating officer revealed.According to police, Shwetha and Kenneth were engineering classmates at New Horizon College. Two months ago, they had moved into Sai Green Apartment complex in Seegehalli. “Shwetha and Kenneth were so detached from their families that none of their parents knew their whereabouts,” the officer said.“Kenneth told his parents that he was working in Hyderabad and lived there. When we visited them at their residence, they were shocked, saying that all this while they knew Kenneth was in Hyderabad,” another office r said.Somasundar and Muthulakshmi, too, had little idea about their daughter’s life, said police. It was only after bank notices began reaching their home that they discovered she had accumulated substantial loans.All three were rushed to a nearby private hospital. While Muthulakshmi and Supriya were declared brought dead, Somasundar succumbed to his injuries later. Supriya is an undergraduate student at New Horizon College, Marathahalli.CCTV shows them fleeingCCTV footage from the apartment complex allegedly shows Shwetha and Kenneth fleeing immediately after the attack.“They jumped out from their balcony and rushed towards the parking lot, before riding away,” a police officer said. “In his dying declaration, Somasundar told us about Shwetha’s unpaid loans and that he wanted her to return home for now and later get married to Kenneth,” he added.
