Sushma, a native of Tumakuru, first connected with Raju after he sent her a friend request on Facebook. The chats soon moved to an in-person and physical relationship.
She then became pregnant. After she gave birth, the couple started living together due to pressure from their parents.
On Jan. 19, Sushma and her baby boy were killed in cold blood by her Facebook friend-turned-husband S K Raju, just three months after the couple started living together with their love child.
The reason is Sushma led a colourful social media life. She was active on Facebook and Instagram, allegedly chatting with unknown men. Raju suspected she was having multiple affairs.
On Jan. 19 evening, the Reliance warehouse employee who was living with Sushma and their three-month-old baby in a rented house in Madanayakanahalli, planned a bike trip to Hassan.
After reaching Mysuru Road, Raju took a deviation inside Hejjala forest near Kumbalagodu. He apparently said that it was a shortcut to Wonderla, which they were going to visit.
He then stopped at an isolated spot, assaulted Sushma and bludgeoned her to death. Raju then smothered their three-month-old baby and proceeded to set the bodies on fire with petrol from his bike.
Incidentally, the spot was just a few kilometres away from Eagleton resort in Bidadi where a political drama was playing out at the time.
The next day, a forest guard on his rounds noticed the half-burnt body of a woman in Hejjala plantation and alerted the jurisdictional Bidadi police, who in turn were busy with the assault case involving Congress MLAs Anand Singh and J N Ganesh.
The Bidadi police rushed to the spot and did a scene mahazar (details of crime scene).
Later, upon checking complaints about missing people in the city, they learnt that Sushma’s father had filed a complaint about his daughter and infant with Madanayakanahalli police on Jan. 26.
He was called to the station and shown the belongings and photographs of Sushma. He confirmed that it was his daughter.
Bidadi Police Inspector K Jeevan and Sub-Inspector B C Harish picked up Raju and during the interrogation, he confessed to killing Sushma and the baby.
He told police that Sushma was chatting with other men on Facebook and took no interest in domestic chores or taking care of the child. He was then arrested and remanded in judicial custody.
The police haven’t found the infant’s body. They suspect that some wild animals may have consumed the remains. The area is believed to have a considerable population of leopards.
