The accused in the murder of bank employee N. Divya surrendered himself before the police at Vemulawada on Wednesday. He was identified as S. Venkatesh Goud and Siddipet police are bringing him back to Gajwel for questioning.
Divya was brutally murdered on Tuesday at about 8 p.m. at her residence after she returned from her office. A native of Yellareddypet in Siricilla district, she was working at Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikasa Bank and stayed along with her parents N Lakshmi Rajyam and Manemma. Her marriage was scheduled on February 26. The incident took place while she was speaking over phone with her would-be husband and her parents were out of station to supervise marriage works.
Ms. Manemma informed the police that Venkatesh has been harassing Divya for the past few months and a case was filed at Vemulawada. Venkatesh and Divya were childhood friends when both the families resided in Vemulawada. When they studied in a private engineering college in Karimnagar, they reportedly fell in love. Later, they went for coaching for higher studies in Hyderabad and reportedly informed their parents that they had got married and sent pictures. However, the girl’s parents opposed it and took her away and kept her in Yellareddypet. However, Venkatesh was frequently meeting her and harassing her. At this juncture, a case was registered in Yellareddy police station and he was counselled and a statement was taken from him that he would not meet Divya and harass her.
Police said that Venkatesh bore a grudge against Divya after she distanced herself from him and it only increased after her marriage was fixed with a boy from Warangal. The police suspect that the accused might have gone to her house on Tuesday night and reportedly committed the offence.
The parents and relatives of Divya staged protests at Gajwel hospital where the post-mortem was conducted demanding stern action against the accused. When the police assured to nab the culprit and take stringent action, the relatives bought the dead body to Yellareddypet and performed the last rites.
