After a 22-year-old woman from Bengaluru was brutally murdered in a forest area of Dharbandora, Goa, police launched an investigation into the case and arrested a man from Hubballi, Karnataka. The police stated that the two of them were in a relationship, and the man killed her on suspicion of her involvement with another man.
As per the Goa Police, the victim was working as non-teaching staff at a school in Bengaluru. She travelled to Goa with Sanjay Kevin M, also 22, and both were classmates from Karnataka. The duo met near Haveri before taking a Kadamba Transport Corporation bus from Hubballi to Goa. Kevin reportedly had doubts that the woman was involved with another man and carried a knife with him with the intent to kill.
Relationship turns deadly
On Sunday, the couple got off near Pilliem in Dharbandora’s Mollem Wildlife Sanctuary. Police mentioned that Kevin “lured her into the bushes and slit her throat with a knife,” then got away in a taxi back to Hubballi. He also took her phone along with him.
Her body was found on Monday morning by a farmer in the forest area, which was around 100 metres from the road. South Goa SP Tikam Singh Verma called the case a “blind murder,” yet it was solved within 24 hours, as reported by The Indian Express. To investigate the case, crime scene forensics, a technical analysis team, and dog squad units were deployed.
How did the police solve the murder case?
A breakthrough in the case was reached when police discovered a bus ticket in the woman’s purse. The UPI payment for the transport fare disclosed Kevin’s phone number, leading Goa authorities to Hubballi. On early Tuesday, Karnataka police cooperated in his arrest.
It was during the probe, Kevin admitted to arguing with the victim during the trip and admitted that murder was committed because of relationship issues. Police have pointed out that the knife that was used in the crime has not been recovered at the scene. The suspect continues to be in custody, and the weapon is likely to be confiscated soon.
An official murder case has been registered at the Ponda police station, and the accused has been remanded into seven-day custody by a local court. The victim’s family is still in shock and awaits further investigation into the case. In a similar incident in Bengaluru, a 25-year-old techie was accused of stabbing his partner 13 times as she broke up the relationship with him.