College student found murdered and body burnt near Chitradurga, youth arrested

CHITRADURGA: A 19-year-old second-year degree student was found murdered and her body burnt, near National Highway-48 here on Tuesday. The victim was identified with the help of a tattoo on her hand and a youth, identified as Chethan, has been arrrested for the murder.

The victim Varshita K T was a student at the Government Degree College and was staying in the Ambedkar SC/ST girls’ hostel in the city. She hailed from Koverahatti village in Hiryur taluk. On Wednesday, members of the Akhila Bharata Vidyarthi Parishat (ABVP) and Dalit and Kannada groups staged a protest demanding a thorough investigation into the case and nabbing of the suspects.

A relative of the girl’s family, Praveen, said Varshita was neither at the hostel for the last four days nor had she come home. “Her body was found burnt near Gonur and though it has been raining, the culprits burnt her. This seems to be a pre-planned killed. Her parents had sent her to the city for studies. We used to hear of such cases in North India, now it’s happening here”.

Varshita’s mother Jyothi Thippeswamy said, “We don’t have male children and we sent her to Chitradurga to study. I want justice for my daughter’s death. Such a situation should not befall other children or families”.

Curiously, Varshita had written to the hostel warden on August 14 seeking leave to visit her home. She can be seen on CCTV leaving the hostel premises around 10.50 am along with another girl. Her mother said, “Three days ago, she called me at night and said ‘Amma’. After that, her phone was switched off. I came to the hostel on Tuesday to meet her and later lodged a missing person’s complaint at the Aimangala police station”.

Meanwhile, Chethan confessed to the police that he had killed Varshita and burnt her body with petrol. Chethan claimed that he was working with a private company in Gangavathi and was in a relationship with Varshita for the last two years.

He said that a few months ago, Varshita got into a relationship with another youth and had even got pregnant. “Her family was pressuring her to get married. On August 14, she visited a relative’s house in Hiriyur and returned to Chitradurga on August 18. That afternoon, I took her near Gonur on my motorcycle where we spent some time alone”, he said.

“I hit her on the face and head and when she fell down, I strangulated her. I set her on fire with some petrol which I had brought in by motorcycle and the next day, I doused the body in some more petrol and set it on fire. I kept her footwear on her body and left”, Chethan admitted to the police.