A 24-year-old youth, who was reportedly in a relationship with a 17-year-old girl, was murdered and his body chopped into several parts by the girl’s father, at Pengaragunta village in Palamaner mandal.
The shocking incident occurred on the night of May 22. The accused allegedly buried the youth’s body parts in three pits. After receiving a complaint on Thursday regarding the youth’s disappearance, police launched an investigation and exhumed the decomposed body parts of the youth on Friday.
Police revealed details about the case on Friday. The deceased youth, identified as Dhanasekhar, had struck up a relationship with the 17-year-old and kept visiting her house at night when her father would leave for his farm on night vigils.
On May 22, Dhanasekhar left for the girl’s home at 10 p.m., telling his family that he was going to meet a friend and would be back in an hour. However, he did not return ever since and his mobile phone too remained switched off. After searching for him for days, the family finally lodged a complaint with the Palamaner police on May 27. Aware about Dhanasekhar’s relationship with the minor girl, the family told the police that they suspected the involvement of the girl’s family behind his disappearance.
Acting on the complaint, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Palamaner) C.M. Gangaiah formed a special party to trace Dhanasekhar. Verification of call data revealed that the last call that the youth had answered was from his girlfriend. The police then took the girl’s father into custody in the early hours of Friday, who upon interrogation reportedly revealed the details of the murder.
The Deputy SP said that the accused, Babu (name changed), returned home on the night of May 22 when he saw Dhanasekhar at his house. Enraged, Babu attacked him with a bamboo stick, killing him on the spot. Fearing police action, Babu dumped Dhanasekhar’s body in a nearby farm well. Knowing that the body would soon float to the top, Babu then scouted for a spot to bury the body.
He then dug three pits at a site meant for the construction of a shop. On May 26, once Dhanasekhar’s body resurfaced, Babu fished it out and cut it into several pieces and buried it in the pits.
Police exhumed the body parts from the pits on Friday morning, and arranged for a post-mortem at the same spot. A case was registered and the accused was sent on remand. Police said that they would also look into allegations levelled by Babu’s family members against Dhanasekhar’s family regarding the youth’s murder.
