A series of violent deaths reported across India in recent weeks has drawn urgent attention to domestic killings, suspected custodial deaths, and failures of police accountability, according to reporting by the Indian Express.
Young Woman Killed Inside Police Station in Uttar Pradesh
In one of the most disturbing cases, 19-year-old Shivani Chauhan was stabbed to death allegedly by her own father inside a police station in Banda district, Uttar Pradesh, on a Friday. She had been brought to the Badausa police station for legal formalities, including recording her statement, after being traced following a complaint filed by her family.
Shivani had left home on May 18 with 20-year-old Lalit Verma, whom she married in Madhya Pradesh against her family’s wishes. She belonged to a backward caste while Lalit is a Dalit, and the family had not accepted the union. During her statement at the station, she insisted she had left home voluntarily and wished to remain with her husband, according to Superintendent of Police Palash Bansal. Her mother Ranno was present at the station; Lalit and his family were not.
Her father, Satya Kumar Chauhan, 55, allegedly carried out the attack at the station. Shivani was rushed to Atarra community health centre and then referred to Banda Medical College, where she died during treatment. A case initially registered under BNS Section 109 was upgraded to Section 103 for murder after her death, on the complaint of her mother. Chauhan has been arrested.
Bengaluru Sees Multiple Killings Linked to Intimate Relationships
In Bengaluru, police are investigating the June 13 death of 22-year-old Bhavani S, a BSc graduate who worked at a mobile shop and was found dead inside her rented house in Tulasi Nagar. Officers broke open the locked door after her sister Sharada raised an alarm, triggered by an Instagram story suggesting Bhavani had married another man. Inside, police found Bhavani dead and a man named Chandrashekar, known as Chandu, unconscious.
Chandu, an autorickshaw driver who was already married, had been secretly involved with Bhavani. Bhavani’s family had been arranging her marriage to another man without knowledge of the relationship, according to police. Chandu claimed the two had attempted suicide together. However, Bhavani’s father Srinivas alleged that Chandu strangled her and then sprinkled poison on both of them to simulate a suicide pact. Byadarahalli police registered an FIR against Chandu under BNS Sections 103(1) for murder and 238 for destruction of evidence.
In a separate case, 20-year-old N D Anusha was found murdered in a locked house in Malleswaram, Bengaluru. Her live-in partner Sharath, 27, was arrested on a Tuesday, two days after the killing, after he called a lawyer on June 14 and said he had killed her. Sharath confessed to strangling Anusha following an argument over the state of the kitchen. Anusha was an orphan who had met Sharath on Instagram; the two had moved from Sakleshpur in Hassan district to Bengaluru six months before her death. Police traced Sharath through call detail records.
Also in Bengaluru, 34-year-old Manjula, a home guard posted at Mahadevapura police station, was stabbed to death by her husband Pradeep, 38, at her parental home on a Sunday evening around 8:30 pm. The couple had been married 15 years, but Manjula had filed for divorce and been living separately since January after Pradeep allegedly became addicted to alcohol and lost between Rs 7 and 8 lakh in online betting.
Pradeep arrived at the home concealing a knife in his jacket. He grabbed Manjula’s legs under the pretense of apologising, then stabbed her repeatedly in front of their children. Before the attack, he had recorded a video stating, “I can’t live without you. If you won’t return, I’ll kill you.” He attempted to harm himself after the stabbing before fleeing. Manjula was declared dead on arrival at a government hospital. Mahadevapura police have arrested Pradeep and registered a murder case.
Child’s Death in Bengaluru Leads to Police Suspensions
A six-year-old girl named Vennella P died in Bengaluru on March 25 under circumstances that a post-mortem examination later revealed to be deeply troubling. The autopsy showed she died from asphyxia caused by an obliterated windpipe, combined with blunt force trauma to the abdomen. Pathologists found bloodstained fluid from both nostrils and mouth, and approximately 400 ml of blood and blood clots in the peritoneal cavity.
Despite these findings, Kadugodi Police Station inspector Rangaswamy initially recorded the death as unnatural rather than registering a murder case, which allowed the accused to obtain anticipatory bail. A murder case was eventually registered on June 4 against Vennella’s mother Priyanka P and her live-in partner G M Mohan. Mohan was arrested on June 6 and Priyanka on June 11.
The truth emerged partly because Priyanka’s brother raised suspicions and filed a complaint, and Vennella’s father Praveen Basappa sought help from his sister, Dr Poornima, a child specialist based in England, who identified discrepancies in the post-mortem report. Following an inquiry into the initial investigative failures, Inspector Rangaswamy, Sub-Inspector Ningaraju, and Station Writer Halesh Naik of Kadugodi Police Station were all suspended.
Karnataka Killing and Mussoorie Death Under Investigation
In Ballari district, Karnataka, a 26-year-old man named Basavanagouda Patil was found dead on the morning of June 8. His semi-charred body was discovered near the Shivapura-Thambrahalli LLC canal; he had gone missing the previous night. Three people were arrested: Dodda Basavanagouda, 36, his wife Shwetha, 30, and her brother Vijay, 23.
Shwetha alleged that Patil had been blackmailing her with private photographs for nearly a year. According to police, the three planned the killing together, luring Patil to the canal where her husband and brother attacked and killed him before burning the body. However, police noted they had not yet confirmed whether Patil actually possessed such images or whether a relationship existed. All three were arrested in Bengaluru and remanded to judicial custody, according to SP Suman D Pennekar.
In a case drawing scrutiny in Uttarakhand, 27-year-old P Radha Gayatri died at a Mussoorie homestay on a Monday morning. Her husband Soumya Sricharan found her unresponsive and bleeding from the nose. The couple had traveled from Delhi to Rishikesh on Saturday, then to Mussoorie on Sunday night, sending a selfie to Gayatri’s father at 1:36 am. The husband said both had consumed alcohol and went to their room around 3:30 am, and he found her unconscious when he woke. No external injury marks were identified in the post-mortem; viscera were preserved for toxicological analysis. Police collected strips of medicines, glasses, and bottles from the scene as evidence. Gayatri had been receiving treatment for low blood pressure, according to the station in-charge. Her father submitted an application seeking a full investigation into her death.
Suspected Custodial Death in Vijayawada Sparks Political Demands
A murder case has been registered in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, against suspended Circle Inspector S V Nagaraju in connection with the disappearance of 24-year-old Gade Sai Krishna. Krishna was picked up by police on May 9 in connection with two arrest warrants; police subsequently denied he was ever in their custody.
Krishna’s mother G Vijayalakshmi filed a habeas corpus petition on June 4. The Andhra Pradesh High Court directed that Nagaraju be produced before it by June 22. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu ordered an inquiry after Vijayalakshmi’s appeal, leading to Nagaraju’s transfer to a vacant reserve post and then his suspension. Vijayawada Police Commissioner S V Rajashekara Babu directed an FIR against Nagaraju under multiple BNS sections, including 103(1) for murder and 238 for destruction of evidence.
Vijayalakshmi alleged her son was tortured to death and secretly cremated. “Give me some closure; it has been mental torture for me since he went missing over a month ago,” she said. The YSRCP demanded the release of CCTV footage from the relevant period, and former Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy called for a CBI probe into the alleged custodial death.
Senior IPS Officer Suspended Over Slain Constable’s Ordeal in Odisha
The Odisha government suspended senior IPS officer Dayal Gangwar following an inquiry into allegations that a constable who was later lynched had been illegally employed in domestic work while serving under him. Gangwar, a 1998-batch IPS officer, had already been moved to the Home Department as Officer on Special Duty on May 26 as a punitive posting, following the May 7 lynching of constable Soumya Ranjan Swain at Balianta.
Swain was beaten to death by a mob of 40 to 50 people after being accused of attempting to sexually assault two women, following a road collision. Swain’s father alleged that Gangwar had compelled his son to perform personal domestic duties, pressured him to invest in a gym run by an associate, and deployed more staff at his residence than officially permitted. Four junior police officers were also suspended in connection with the incident. The National Human Rights Commission conducted an independent inquiry and recorded Gangwar’s statement. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi approved the suspension order.
