Mangaluru: Five get life term for killing man to continue affair with his wife

Mangaluru, Jul 26: Nearly a decade after a man was murdered by group of miscreants to continue extra-marital affair with his wife, a local court has convicted five persons and sentenced to them to life imprisonment.

The murder of Siddappa, 29, from Bagalkote, who married Kasturi and lived in a rented house in Kuloor in Mangaluru taluk, took place in December 2007. The incident came to light after two years when his dead body was recovered.

Principal district and sessions court on Saturday sentenced five persons accused of murdering a 29-year-old labourer and burying his body in a pit in December 2007.

Mohammed Anwar of Balloorgudde often visited Siddappa's house and developed a physical relationship with Kasturi. According to the chargesheet filed by the Mangaluru Rural Police Station, Kasturi had left her son at Anwar's house, which Siddappa did not approve of.

Anwar's frequent visit to their house and her relationship with him also led to frequent fights between Kasturi and Siddappa. It was then that Anwar and Kasturi decided to get rid of Siddappa.

The duo called Siddappa to a place near the railway track in Balloorgudde. Anwar, along with his friends Mohammed Naufal, 23, Mohammed Salim, 26, Abdul Bashir, 37 and Abdul Naushad, 32, strangled Siddappa and buried his body near the railway track.

Basappa, Siddappa's brother filed a missing complaint with the jurisdictional police station on August 22, 2009. The police questioned Kasturi, who revealed the murder plot and also showed the place where the body was buried.

Then police inspector B R Lingappa arrested all five accused. The pit in which Siddappa was buried was opened in the presence of the then AC Prabhulinga Kavalikatti. The skull and bones which were recovered were sent for DNA examination that revealed that remains were of Siddappa. Public prosecutor Pushparaj presented evidences and 23 witnesses including forensic experts Raghavendra Babu Y P, Suresh Kumar Shetty and Kavalikatti.

K S Bilagi, the principal district and session's court judge, sentenced Mohammed Anwar and his four friends to life imprisonment including three years of rigorous imprisonment and were directed to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 for destroying evidence. The court did not pass any order against Kasturi as she was reported missing after she obtained bail.