A ‘friend’ turned out to be the killer of a 24-year-old woman when he slit her throat with a knife after inviting her to his room for a conversation in Hanamkonda on Friday.
The body of M. Harathi, who bled to death, was found lying on the floor of a rented room of the alleged killer Md. Shahid in Chaitanyapuri of Kazipet. “After slitting her throat, Shahid went to Warangal central prison to surrender himself but was sent to Subedari police station,” Warangal Police Commissioner V. Ravinder said.
Shahid was taken into custody and being interrogated to ascertain the motive behind the gory killing. “Shahid claimed that he was in love with the woman for the past six months but got agitated on learning that she was seeing another person,” the Commissioner told The Hindu.
The accused knew the victim since intermediate days. Even the victim’s family members knew him and treated him as family friend. “Shahid used to visit Harathi’s home now and then but her family members never suspected his intentions,” the Commissioner said based on preliminary inquiries.
The victim’s family members said Harathi and Shahid were classmates while pursuing degree programme. While Harathi completed MBA, Shahid was preparing for competitive examinations.
On Friday, he asked Harathi to meet him at his rented house in Ramnagar. “She left home around 2:30 pm saying she is going to meet a friend,” the victim’s mother said. The unsuspecting woman went to his room trusting him only to be killed in his hands, the mother said.
“It is still unbelievable that he killed my daughter. He is known to our family for several years and is a trusted friend of my daughter,” Harathi’s father Pratap said. Having married off his elder daughter, Mr. Pratap was looking for alliances for Harathi.
Investigators are yet to seize the knife used by the accused. The body was shifted to MGM hospital where autopsy was yet to be performed. Panchayat Raj Minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao and Chief Whip Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar visited the crime scene and consoled the parents of the girl.
