Man who married girlfriend murdered, audio goes viral

CHITRADURGA: A man who married his young girlfriend was brutally murdered, allegedly by the girl’s family members, in Chitradurga taluk.

The victim is Manjunath (40), a resident of Konanur village in Chitradurga taluk, and this was a second marriage to him. Police have arrested six accused in connection with the case, including Kavya, Divya, Shankaramma, Basavaraj, Prasanna, and Harsha.

Manjunath had inter-caste married a girl, Shilpa, from the Madivala community five years ago and cheated on her. Depressed, over this Shilpa committed suicide. Recently, Manjunath, a Lingayat, who was in jail, fell in love with another young woman Rakshita (20) of his own caste, and got married just 20 days ago at the Hosagudda temple in Nayaknahatti.

However, due to the age gap between them, the family members of Rakshita had not agreed to marry their daughter to Manjunath when had returned from jail. The parents had taken her home, promising that they would soon get them married in front of everyone.

On Wednesday, Manjunath had come to Rakshita’s village where he was attacked by a group of 20 people, including Rakshita’s relatives. They allegedly assaulted him with sticks, stones, and rods, killing him on the spot.

Manjunath’s parents Chandrappa and Anasuya were also injured in the attack. Chitradurga superintendent of police Ranjith Kumar Bandaru visited the spot and the district hospital where the injured are being treated.

An audio clip of conversation between Manjunath and girlfriend has now gone viral after the murder.

An uncle of the victim said, “There was a brawl between Manjunath and Rakshita’s families three months ago. Then, I brought him here. They were in love and got married just 20 days ago. On that day, he went to his own hometown but did not return. He did not even pick up my call. Jagadish (Rakshita father), Narasappa, his wife, and other 20 people were attacked. Kallesh (Rakshita’s uncle) planned to kill him. The victim’s father and mother are severely injured in the brawl and undergoing treatment at the hospital. They used wooden sticks, stones, and iron rods to assault him”.