Police Commissioner Ch. Srikkanth was addressing a press conference in Visakhapatnam city on Tuesday. , Photo Credit: V. Raju
The city police have cracked a case of suspicious death of a woman from Vikalangula Colony under PM Palem police station area in less than 48 hours and arrested a 28-year-old woman for allegedly killing her over an argument about 18 months ago. A year old youth has been arrested.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Police Commissioner Ch. Srikanth said that on December 4, PM Palem police got N. A complaint was received from Ramesh, who stated that he had found a fully decomposed body in his house, which he had rented out to one D. Rishivardhan alias Rishi, in Vikasangula Colony. , Police identified that the body was that of a woman, as her long hair was still clinging to the scalp.
Ramesh told the police that Rishi was living with his wife in the house since 2020. In January 2021, his wife had gone to her maternal home. Then during May 2021, Rishi also left the house leaving all the belongings and stopped paying the rent. In January this year, Ramesh tried to enter the house through the back door, which was open, but waited after seeing all the contents. On December 4, Ramesh had gone to clean the house with the help of his family members, when he saw her dead body in the drum.
Srikanth said that after receiving the complaint, the city police gathered preliminary leads and reached Mandasa, the native place of Rishi, and Kothuru in Srikakulam district, the native place of Rishi’s wife, as part of the investigation. Soon, Rishi was arrested in Visakhapatnam, they said.
During investigation, police found that on May 29, 2021, while returning to Visakhapatnam, Rishi had met a 25-year-old woman at Srikakulam RTC bus stop. The two had shared an auto-rickshaw from Srikakulam to Nathavalasa Junction, they became friendly during the journey and shared contact numbers. Then on May 30, the two met at Rishi’s house in PM Palem and had a physical relationship. Later, the woman allegedly demanded money from Rishi and he expressed his inability to pay. Later, the woman allegedly threatened him to inform the local people about the matter. When she was about to raise her voice, Rishi allegedly slapped her and strangulated her to death with a dupatta (chunni).
Srikkanth said that Rishi committed the crime because he felt that his reputation among the locals as well as that of his wife would be damaged. To ensure that he was not caught, Rishi wrapped the body in a blanket and stuffed it in a plastic water drum. He also closed the drum with a cap and sealed the drum with insulation tape in air tight condition and fled from the spot. He had reached his native place and had switched off his phone for 13 days. The police commissioner said that six months back, he had moved to Visakhapatnam again with his family in Komadi and started working as a cook in a school.
He also said that after the incident, Rishi never came to his home in Vikalangula Colony for fear that he might be caught.
Srikkanth also said that as per the deceased mobile data records, the police suspect that she was Bammidi Dhanalakshmi, aged about 24 to 26 years. from Srikakulam district
“We have inquired whether any missing person was registered from May 2021 till date, but there was none. The relatives of the deceased said that they had not lodged any missing complaint as she was used to going out for long hours. However, to establish the identity, we will conduct a DNA test.”