It’s a college romance that met with a brutal and tragic end. It’s the story of a young college couple in love, from Karnataka’s Bellary district, who were both allegedly beaten to death by the girl’s parents.
While she died on the spot, he was stuffed alive into a sack, bleeding and left to die.
Reshma Bhanu, a first PUC student from Nandi Pre-University College in Hagaribommanahalli, met 20-year-old Nagaraj, her senior from the same college at a summer camp last year.
They soon became friends and fell in love. Just like any young couple, Reshma and Nagaraj spent hours having phone conversations and also constantly chatted on WhatsApp.
Reshma’s parents got suspicious and soon found out that she was in a relationship with Nagaraj. Her family members and elders advised her that it would bring shame to the family if she continued to see Nagaraj as he was not of the same caste and they convinced her to end her relationship with him.
Nagaraj was a resident of Bharampura village in Bellary while Reshma lived in Hampasagara village. Since her parents had confiscated her mobile phone and had grounded her, she could not contact Nagaraj for a few months.
According to Bellary SP, “In March, she finally contacted him and told him that she could not be with him as her parents disapproved even though she wanted to marry him. According to Nagaraj’s friends, he too wanted to get married to Reshma. The couple decided that Nagaraj would visit her parents and convince them that he wanted to marry Reshma,” SP Chetan said.
On March 24, Nagaraj went to Reshma’s house and explained to her parents that he was in love with her and proposed marriage.
“Her parents got angry and thrashed him with an iron rod and wooden stick. When Reshma tried to protect him from the beating, her parents beat her up too. Reshma died on the spot. Her parents, who panicked, quietly buried her. They shoved an unconscious Nagaraj into a gunny bag and threw it under a tamarind tree in G Kodihalli village, located near Bellary’s Hampasagara,” the SP added.
TOI reported that Reshma’s parents even told their relatives that she had died of an illness and that they performed a quick funeral as per the doctor’s advice.
On the night of March 24, residents of G Kodihalli village saw blood flowing out of the gunny bag and informed the police. He was rushed to the government hospital in Hagaribommanahalli, where he was treated.
“The police had found Nagaraj’s phone in the gunny bag and contacted his parents. His parents claimed that this was an attempt to murder their son, but the police refused to investigate the case. The doctors told Nagaraj’s parents to shift him to a private hospital as he had severe internal injuries. Nagaraj died in Manipal Hospital on March 31,” SP Chetan said.
A resident of G Kodihalli village, Hanumanthappa, had filed an FIR at Tambrahalli Police Station as he was the first one to notice the bag under the tree.
“The Sub Inspector of Tambrahalli Police Station, Mangu Naik, did not report the matter to his superiors and did not investigate the case. When Nagaraj’s parents contacted me, I suspended the SI and took charge of the case. Reshma’s parents have absconded. We are looking into Nagaraj’s contacts on his mobile so that we can question his acquaintances,” he added.
A case of murder has been registered at the Tambrahalli Police Station.