BENGALURU: In a landmark verdict that sets a rare legal precedent, a Bengaluru court on Monday sentenced two men to life imprisonment for the 2021 kidnapping and murder of a 47-year-old widow, despite her body never being recovered.The convicts — Noor Ahmed S and Satyanarayana (alias Satya), both residents of Mantralayam in Andhra Pradesh, were found guilty of hatching a contract-killing plot over a bitter property dispute and disposing of the victim’s body in a canal.Public Prosecutor Shailaja Nayak highlighted the historical weight of the decision, noting that it is one of the very few recent cases where a court handed down a murder conviction without a corpus delicti (the body of the victim).Presiding Judge Mallikarjun Swamy condemned the act in a sweeping 200-page judgment that detailed the cold-blooded plot and exposed attempts to mislead the court.
A feud over property
The victim, Seetha Achar, lived alone in Bengaluru’s Rajajinagar following the death of her husband. Trouble brewed over a family property in Mantralayam, Andhra Pradesh.While the rest of the family wished to sell the land, Seetha firmly refused to give up her share.Seetha had some debts; one of the accused persons had approached her, saying that if she agreed to sell the family land, her debt would be paid. However, Seetha did not agree.Seeking to clear the path for the deal, a plot was hatched to eliminate her.On March 26, 2021, the accused lured Seetha out of Bengaluru under the pretext of taking her to Hassan to buy jewellery. Instead, they poisoned her with cyanide.To ensure no physical evidence remained, they drove to Hosapete and dumped her body into a canal, where it was washed away.Concerns were raised when Seetha abruptly disappeared. Her brother, Venkatesh Achar, initially approached the Kurnool police, suspecting that those eyeing the Mantralayam property were involved. He subsequently filed a missing person report with the Subramanya Nagar police in Bengaluru.
The seven-month investigation
For seven months, Seetha’s fate remained unknown until Subramanya Nagar police pieced together her final hours through call detail records (CDRs).The digital trail led straight to the suspects, uncovering a contract killing involving four men: Noor Ahmed, Satyanarayana, Mental Raghu, and Kumara (Both Raghu and Kumara died of health complications prior to the trial).During interrogation, the suspects confessed to the cyanide poisoning and the disposal of her body in the Hosapete canal. Despite extensive searches, the canal yielded no physical evidence or remains, posing a massive challenge for the prosecution.
Debunking hostile witnesses
With no body recovered, the defence attempted to blow holes in the state’s case using hostile witnesses who claimed Seetha was still alive well after March 2021. However, Public Prosecutor Shailaja Nayak dismantled these claims during cross-examination:The Holiday Blunder: A witness named Madappa testified that he had seen Seetha inside a local panchayat office in Mantralayam on Jan 26, 2022.When asked by Prosecutor Nayak how a govt panchayat office could be open and functioning on Republic Day—a mandatory national holiday, Madappa had no defence.The suspicious silence: A second witness, Gattu Inayatulla, claimed he saw Seetha in February 2022. Cross-examination revealed that Inayatulla was the brother-in-law of the prime suspect, Noor Ahmed.When asked why he never alerted the police or court that the “murder victim” was alive while his own relative sat in prison facing trial for her death, Inayatulla’s testimony collapsed.Public prosecutor Shailaja said she is receiving life threats from the convicts. “They are threatening me and other witnesses again and again. Also, they are making negative comments on the judiciary,” she said.
