7 people arrested in connection with murder of minor girl near Bengaluru

Days after the body of a 17-year-old girl stuffed inside a suitcase was found on the outskirts of Bengaluru, seven people were arrested and a minor boy from Bihar was apprehended in connection with the murder, police said on Monday.

After strangling her, the accused stuffed the body inside a suitcase and dumped it near the railway tracks in Chandapura, close to Anekal, on May 21, they said.

Citing a preliminary investigation, a senior police officer said that the girl, who hailed from Bihar, came to Bengaluru on May 18 after being lured into a relationship by Ashiq Kumar, a factory helper, who is already married and has two children.

During interrogation, the accused claimed that he had a heated argument with the girl and was intoxicated at that time. The argument turned violent and in a fit of rage, he strangled her at a relative’s home in Bommanahalli on the night of May 20. After the murder, he, with the help of other accused, allegedly stuffed her body into a suitcase.

Later, they used one of the accused Mukesh’s car to transport the body and dumped the suitcase near Chandapura railway bridge, the officer said.

Following the incident, the accused fled to Bihar from where they were later traced and nabbed by the police.

A case of murder was registered. We have arrested seven accused and apprehended a minor boy. The exact motive behind the murder is being probed. Further investigation is underway,” the officer added.

The victim’s father, a daily wage labourer, has two wives and seven daughters. She was the second daughter of her father’s first wife, police added.