Armed stalker, and a mother’s bid to save her child behind Bengaluru killings

Just shy of 4.30pm on Thursday afternoon, at her Shankambari Nagar home in Bengaluru, 26-year-old Anusha received a phone call. Almost immediately, she told her mother, 48-year-old Geetha, that she was stepping out of the house, and would return in five minutes. Her mother was instantly worried; her daughter had been troubled, and she sensed something was wrong. She followed Anusha to a park nearby, and from behind some bushes that gave her cover, watched as her daughter met a man and began a heated argument. As she watched with concern, the man pulled out a knife and attacked her daughter. She rushed to save her, assaulting the man with a brick that she had picked up. A day later, both Anusha and 38-year-old Suresh are dead, and Geetha is in custody for murder.

Karnataka police officers on Friday said that a failed relationship, a man who refused to take no for an answer, and a failed attempt to save a life was behind the dramatic double-murder at the Sarakki Park in JP Nagar in Bengaluru on Thursday. Lokesh Jagalsagar, deputy commissioner of police, Bengaluru South division, said, “Anusha told her mother that she was going out to meet someone and will be back in five minutes. Suspecting something amiss, her mother followed her and saw Anusha meeting Suresh. They were having a heated discussion and suddenly Suresh attacked her with a knife. She ran to save her daughter and attacked Suresh with a brick multiple times on the head.”

Senior officers said that Anusha and Suresh, both residents of Shankambari Nagar, met in June 2018. Anusha worked as a caretaker in a private hospital, and Suresh, who was married, worked at an event management company in Bengaluru. “They developed a relationship,” the officer said.

Officers said that as their relationship grew, Anusha asked for stability in their relationship, and asked him to marry her, and separate from his family. “He refused but wanted to continue the relationship, which caused confrontations between them. She did not want this,” the officer said.

From early this year, officers said, Anusha began to avoid Suresh, and he suspected that she was growing closer to another man. On Thursday, when they met, Anusha was clear that she wanted to end the relationship between the two, and saw no future for them.

“He questioned her about the other man he had suspicions about, and she refused to answer. He grew increasingly enraged, pulled out a knife, and attacked her in the chest and head. Geetha then rushed in and attacked him from the back, hitting him with the brick till he collapsed on the ground,” an officer said.

Even as the dramatic events unfolded in full public view, passersby called for an ambulance and rushed the two to a hospital.