40-year-old woman murdered; body set ablaze

BANGALORE: Unidentified assailant strangled to death a lonely woman and decamped with half kilo of gold ornaments and Rs 50,000 cash. In a bid to make the murder look like a suicide, the miscreant also tried to set the body on fire before fleeing the scene.The incident was reported in Chunchaghatta near Konanakunte Cross in Subramanyapura police station limits on Friday noon.The victim has been identified as Pavitra, 40, a resident of Chunchaghatta. She was married to Nanjappa, a realtor. The couple had two children, Ramya, a BBM student at Silicon City College, and Kiran, a first PU student at the same college. The three had gone out when the incident took place.According to the police, a few neighbours of Pavitra noticed smoke coming out from the house and rushed to her help. The main door of the house was kept open and they went inside to find her lying dead on the bed. They doused the fire and informed the police. The body was partially burnt in the fire as the murderer had put fire to the bed. She was strangled using a dhoti by the murderer.“It is suspected only one man is behind the murder and he is well known to the victim. He was also offered coffee by the victim and he might be very close to the family as he has taken away the jewels and other things without disturbing other household items at home,” the police added.