Man Arrested in Bengaluru for Wife's Murder After Body Found in Vacant Plot

A 32-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife and dumping her body in a vacant plot in Bengaluru, police said on Saturday. The accused, Sagar Chandra Rawat, a native of Odisha, was taken into custody more than three weeks after the woman's highly decomposed body was discovered in MS Nagar near Sampigehalli.

The body was found on September 2, when workers cleaning the vacant plot came across it and alerted the authorities. The cleanup was being carried out following a Greater Bengaluru Authority directive asking property owners to maintain their premises. Because the body was severely decomposed, police, along with local residents, performed the last rites soon after the post-mortem.

Identifying the woman proved difficult as the body was beyond recognition. Investigators were able to establish her identity as Anusuya through a mall tag found on her clothing, which led them to billing details for the garment, as well as a Ganesha pendant and technical analysis. Inquiries at the mall helped trace her address, a senior police officer said.

When investigators reached her house in MS Nagar, they found it locked. Local inquiries revealed that Anusuya and her husband worked at a small hotel in Yelahanka and had been living there. According to police, Sagar came to Bengaluru about five years ago and married Anusuya around two years ago.

The couple allegedly had an argument over finances on August 11, following which he allegedly assaulted and strangled her, causing her death by suffocation. He is said to have kept the body inside the house for about three days before wrapping it in a bed sheet, tying it with a rope and carrying it out around midnight. Fearing he would be caught, he allegedly dumped the body at the vacant site.

The accused then returned home, collected his belongings, locked the house and began staying on the hotel premises. Police said Sagar was subsequently taken into custody and, during interrogation, allegedly confessed to the killing after investigators confronted him with discrepancies in his statement.