Two Weeks After Dad's Death, 10-Year-Old Son Reveals He Was Killed By Mother's Lover

A 40-year-old man who was believed to have died from a head injury he suffered during an epileptic attack was actually murdered by his wife’s lover, police said. The shocking details of the murder came to light nearly two weeks after the man’s death when the deceased man’s 10-year-old son told his uncle that his father was murdered in front of him.

Based on the boy’s statement, the police have arrested the deceased man’s wife, his mother-in-law, and his wife’s lover.

According to the police, following the death of Raghavendra N, a resident of Karenahalli in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, in the wee hours on Dec. 27, his wife, 30-year-old Shylaja called her husband's younger brother, Chandrashekhar, and told him that he had died after injuring his head in a fall during an epileptic attack.

The victim’s family members believed the story and cremated him on the same day. However, the woman’s story fell flat after her 10-year-old son narrated the incident to his Chandrashekhar, police said.

"Shylaja and her two kids had moved to Chandrashekhar's house after Raghavendra's death. When Chandrashekhar asked the boy what had happened that night, the boy just said he was sleeping but heard some unknown male voice in the house. This led to suspicion among the family members of the deceased. They went to check footage of Raghavendra's house from a CCTV camera installed by the factory where he worked," said a police official.

"It revealed that a man was going inside the house. When they confronted Shylaja, she claimed there was a fight and she hit her husband with a rolling pin and left him outside and did not know what happened later. After they began to suspect her, she left for her parents' house and did not attend the 11th day ritual of her husband," he added.

After repeated persuasion from the victim’s family members, the boy revealed what exactly happened that night.

He told them that his father was pinned down by his mother and grandmother while a stranger repeatedly hit him on his head with a rolling pin until he died. When the boy screamed, the stranger attacked him with the rolling pin and threatened to kill him if he spoke about the incident to anyone.

"My grandmother (maternal) was holding my father’s legs and my mother was sitting on his back. Another person was hitting my father with a rolling pin. I asked them why they were hitting my father. But that person hit me and threatened to kill me if I reported this to anyone," the boy told police, the Times of India reported.

Shylaja, her lover Hanumantha, and her mother Lakshmidevamma have been arrested by the police. The Doddaballapura town police have registered a case of murder and destroying evidence against the trio.

"The same day, the family members went to the house where Raghavendra lived and opened the door to find bloodstains on the walls. On January 7, a formal complaint was filed following which Shylaja, her mother, and her lover were arrested. They confessed that they had committed the murder as Raghavendra was objecting to their illicit relationship and was a hurdle between them," the police said.

A further probe is underway, the police official added.