An anganwadi worker from Bengaluru, who went missing on Tuesday was found murdered at a hotel room in JC Road on Friday. The police have booked the woman’s neighbour for murder after her husband filed a complaint, indicating his involvement.
Kamala M, a resident of Lalbagh Siddapura, worked at an anganwadi in Bengaluru’s Cement Colony, Times of India (ToI) reported. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West sub division), Sanjeev Patil, said that the woman’s body was discovered by the staff at the lodging facility after they opened the door to the room which Kamala had rented, as a foul odour was emanating.
The hotel staff contacted Kamala’s family members and after they arrived, the door to the room was opened, only to find that she was dead.
Kamala, who used to go back home from work at around 5.30 pm every day, did not return home on the evening of November 24, Deccan Herald reported. Her husband Obalesh L, had filed a missing persons complaint with the Siddapura Police on November 25. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sanjeev Patil, Kamala entered the lodging facility with her neighbour Dileep Kumar, who is a tailor by profession, at around 11.30 am on Tuesday.
According to CCTV footage obtained by the police, Kamala and Dileep can be seen entering the lodging facility at 11.30. However, Dileep can also be seen leaving the hotel alone at around 2.30 pm.
In a statement, the West division police said that Obalesh had in his complaint suspected that Kamala was having an affair with Dileep and also accused Dileep of killing his wife. According to the ToI report, Kamala was a mother of five girls and Dileep too, was married and has two children.
Sanjeev Patil said that preliminary investigation revealed that Kamala was allegedly strangled to death and then hung from the ceiling fan. He said that it was an attempt to make it look like a suicide. “We don’t know what exactly happened between the victim and the accused person. Dileep Kumar locked the hotel room from outside before leaving. He switched off his cellphone at around 2.30 pm,” he added.
Dileep Kumar has been booked for murder at the Kalasipalya Police Station and the investigators are trying to trace him.