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Two women found dead with throats slit in B’luru

 Relatives and people gather outside the house of Santoshi Bai and her daughter-in-law Latha D Jain (inset) where they were found murdered in Bengaluru on Monday. 

An elderly woman and her daughter-in-law were found brutally murdered with their throats slit at their house in Vasanthanagar on Monday morning. The victims were identified as Santoshi Bai, 58, and Latha Dinesh, 38, residents of 11th Main Road.Preliminary investigations indicated that people known to the victims’ family were involved in the double murder, reportedly over a financial matter.

The police said there was no forced entry into the house,  which is less than 500 metres from the jurisdictional High Grounds police station. “The two were murdered when they were having breakfast, probably between 10.30 and 11 am,” DCP (Central) Sandeep Patil told DH. According to the police, Latha’s two daughters Meenal, 15, and Prachi, 8, went to school at around 9 am. Santoshi’s husband, Sampath Raj, and her son Dinesh left for their shop, Mandal Chemicals at Balepet, around 10 am. Latha’s youngest son Kush was sleeping on the first floor of the duplex house at the time of incident.

Meenal returned home from school around 11.30 am and found the front door open. She entered the house and saw the bodies of her mother and grandmother on the floor. She screamed and ran out of the house. A police constable on patrol duty, who was sipping tea in front of her house, asked her what was wrong. But Meenal was too shocked to speak, the police said.

“The constable rushed into the house and later informed the police about the twin murders,” Raghavan, a tea vendor opposite the victims’ house, said. The family members usually allowed visitors in only after knowing their identity through a window next to the door. 

“But on Monday, the assailants seem to have had an easy entry. They did not even close the door when they left after committing the murder. Circumstantial evidence gives rise to the suspicion that people known to the family are involved in the murder. The victims’ throats were slit four times,” the DCP said.

Sampath, a native of Rajasthan, had settled in Bengaluru about 40 years ago. A moneylender, he is constructing a five-storey building in the lane next to his house in Vasanthanagar. He had a running dispute with some people who had borrowed money from him. Those who owed him money might have killed his wife and daughter-in-law, the police said.

Sources said Latha had called Sampath after two men arrived at their house for some work. She had also informed her husband Dinesh and even named the two men. Dinesh reportedly told Latha he would speak to them later, the sources added.

Two teams have been formed to arrest the suspects, the police said.