Mysuru police have arrested the parents of a 19-year-old girl for allegedly killing their daughter for wanting to marry a Dalit boy.
According to Mysuru SP Ravi D Chennannanavar, the girl's boyfriend, Krishna approached the Heggadadevana Kote police last week and filed a complaint alleging that Shobha, had been missing for the last three months.
"Krishna, in his complaint states his suspicion of Shobha's parents murdering her for trying to elope with him. Shobha's parents, Guru Siddegowda and Mahadevamma went into hiding. They were arrested in Ooty this morning," SP Chennannavanar said.
According to Krishna's complaint, Guru Siddegowda learnt of Shobha's relationship with Kirshna and had vehemently opposed it.
"Her father had disapproved of the match as I am a Dalit and also an orphan. Her father, Guru Siddegowda, did not want Shobha to marry me as I am of a different caste," Krishna told TNM.
In March this year, Guru Siddegowda had sent his daughter off to Motta village in HD Kote to keep her away from Krishna.
This did not stop the couple as Krishna and Shobha had kept in touch over the telephone.
"In April, she had come from Motta village to Sargur for the death anniversary of a relative and we had met and spoke for two hours. From there, her father took her to their village, Daddahalli. The day she set off to Daddahalli, she called me and told me to meet her at Mulluru in the night. When we were just about to leave on my bike, her father, her brother Kiran and two of her uncles, Mahesh and Ramesh descended upon us," Kiran said.
He alleges that the four men beat him and Shobha up brutally. "I managed to escape as I knew I was going to die that day. I have not heard from Shobha ever since and her father went around telling everyone in the village that he burnt her to death. That's when I began to suspect that her family might have killed her," Kiran added.
Kiran, Mahesh and Ramesh also went into hiding with Shobha's parents in Ooty and were also arrested by the police.
However, what happened to Shobha still remains a mystery. Mysuru SP said that a press meet would be held on Monday evening where more details would be revealed.