Pramesh S Jain
In a breakthrough, the Ramamurthynagar police have arrested an 18-year-old Pre-University student for allegedly murdering his neighbour,a 34-year-old woman software engineer after she resisted his sexual advances.
The incident was initially believed to be a fire accident, occurred on January 3 inside the victim’s apartment in Subramanya layout in Ramamurthy Nagar .
The accused has been identified as Karnal Kurai (18 years and three months),a native of Virajpet town in Kodagu district.
He was the deceased’s neighbour and was living with his single mother.The victim,Sharmila DK,an unmarried woman from Dakshina Kannadadistrict,was residing in a two-bedroom apartment at Sankalpa Nilaya, Subramanya Layout.
She was living alone at the apartment at the time of the incident after her friend had gone out of station .
A fire was reported at Sharmila’s apartment between 10.15 pm and 10.45 pm on January 3.Firefighters who rushed to the spot doused the blaze and found Sharmila’s body charred inside the house.
Initially,investigators suspected a short circuit as the cause of the fire,as the blaze appeared to have originated in the bedroom of Sharmila’s roommate,who had been away in her hometown in Assam since November 14, 2025.
However,suspicion arose after one of Sharmila’s friends, in his statement to the police,expressed doubts over the circumstances of her death.
Based on this,the Ramamurthy Nagar police registered a case and sent the body for post-mortem examination,as per procedure.
Crucially,the scene of crime (SOCO) officers and forensic experts found no evidence to support the short-circuit theory.“The evidence clearly pointed towards arson.
The autopsy further revealed that the woman had died due to suffocation,”a senior police officer said.
Investigations revealed that Kurai allegedly entered Sharmila’s apartment at around 9 pm by opening a sliding window.
He then approached her and demanded that she “co-operate sexually”.
When Sharmila resisted,the accused allegedly held her mouth and nose tightly,causing her to lose consciousness.
During the struggle,she sustained bleeding injuries, police said.Believing her to be dead,the accused allegedly went into the roommate’s vacant bedroom, collected clothes and other incriminating materials,and set them on fire to destroy evidence.He then fled the scene,taking Sharmila’s mobile phone with him.
Based on the complaint,the police gathered digital evidence analysed before zeroing in on the accused.
The accused was arrested from his house on January 10.He was produced before a court and remanded to three days of police custody.
Kurai has been booked under Sections 103(1) (punishment for murder), 64(2) (punishment for rape), 66 (punishment for causing death or resulting in persistent vegetative state of victim) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Further investigation is underway to corroborate the evidence,officer said.
