21-year-old woman hacked to death in Bantwal over one-sided love, accused arrested

MANGALURU: A 21-year-old woman was hacked to death with a sword in Bantwal town on the evening of July 16, police said. Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police Arun K said the accused, identified as Chetan, has been taken into custody.

Humanity is fading. Crime is rising. How many more innocent lives must be lost before women feel safe?

A 21-year-old woman, Lavanya from Kakkepadavu, was brutally hacked to death with a machete at the B.C. Road KSRTC Bus Stand in Bantwal. The accused, identified as her distant… https://t.co/O74LVShPXc pic.twitter.com/dhjY9IRDIH

— Karnataka Portfolio (@karnatakaportf) July 16, 2026

According to the police, the accused, a relative of the victim, was allegedly driven by one-sided love and attacked the woman after she rejected his advances. A case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and further investigation is under way.

#WATCH | Mangaluru, Karnataka: On the murder of a 21-year-old girl in Bantwal town, Superintendent of Police (Dakshina Kannada) Arun K says, “Yesterday evening around 6 p.m., within the Bantwal town police station limits, there was a murder. A 21-year-old girl, Lavanya, was… pic.twitter.com/qsA6BdTChD

— ANI (@ANI) July 17, 2026

“Around 6 pm on Thursday, within the Bantwal town police station limits, there was a murder. A 21-year-old girl, Lavanya, was hacked to death with a sword by an unknown person. Accordingly, an FIR under crime number 95-26 under Sections 126 and 103 of the BNS has been registered, and special teams were formed. Subsequently, the accused, Chetan, has been secured. He is a relative of the victim who had a one-sided love for her. Since the victim did not agree, the accused took such a drastic step”, SP Arun said on Friday. (ANI)