An unidentified skeleton, a saree, some underwear and a pair of chappals had been all of the “proof” the Bettadapura police wanted in June 2021 to substantiate a hunch — that Kurubara Suresh, 35, a labourer from the tribal group in Karnataka’s Kodagu district, had “murdered” his lacking spouse Mallige.
Months after he had filed a criticism in November 2020 on the Kushalnagar rural police station relating to his lacking spouse, Suresh was arrested from his residence after the “identification” of the skeletal stays on the new June day.
On April 1 this 12 months, Suresh, who has been out on bail since September 2024, managed to do one thing the police had did not do. Not solely did he monitor down his spouse — who was very a lot alive and residing together with her alleged boyfriend in a village situated practically 30 km away — his tip-off to the native police resulted in Mallige being taken into custody.
A resident of Basavana Halli village in Kodagu district’s Kushalnagar taluk, Suresh has been married to Mallige for 18 years. The couple has two kids, an 18-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter.
Suresh, who says he’s unlettered however can signal his identify, tells The Indian Specific, “When Bettadapura police arrived at my residence to arrest me (in June 2021), I pleaded with them saying that I had filed a lacking criticism. As an alternative of listening to me out, they compelled me to signal some paperwork and despatched me to jail.”
Although he says he was conscious of his spouse’s affair across the time she allegedly went lacking in November 2020, Suresh didn’t point out it whereas submitting the lacking particular person criticism and even after he was arrested.
Whereas Suresh was in jail awaiting trial, his father, satisfied that his daughter-in-law was alive, approached a number of attorneys to signify his son in court docket. After a number of attorneys turned him down, he approached B S Pandu Poojari. A Mysuru-based advocate, Poojari agreed to take up Suresh’s case freed from cost in January 2022, practically six months after his arrest.
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“I went via the cost sheet and witness assertion, however one thing appeared off. On behalf of Suresh, I utilized for a DNA take a look at of the skeletal stays in opposition to a pattern from Mallige’s mom,” Poojari says.
The report, which was launched in 2023, confirmed what Suresh had been claiming all alongside —the skeleton he had been taken to determine at an remoted spot in June 2021 was not his lacking spouse.
Poojari says he utilized for Suresh’s bail earlier than the Karnataka Excessive Courtroom. “Suresh bought bail on September 27, 2023, because the DNA report contradicted the police’s declare,” he says.
Although Suresh bought bail in September 2023, he remained in jail for an additional 12 months as he lacked the means to furnish a safety bond of Rs 1 lakh. In September 2024, Suresh was lastly launched on bail.
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Decided to show his innocence, he went again to the police station and requested the officers to seek for his spouse, however in useless.
Then, on April 1 this 12 months, his buddies noticed Mallige consuming espresso in a lodge together with her alleged boyfriend.
Suresh says, “My buddies had been conscious of my arrest within the case. They took a video of Mallige on the lodge and alerted me. I knowledgeable the Madikeri police and she or he was taken into custody.”
Mallige had been residing in T Shettigeri village in Virajpet taluk of Kodagu district, 30 km away from Basavana Halli village, since she was reported lacking by Suresh in November 2020.
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After Suresh shared the pictures and movies of Mallige shot by his good friend along with his lawyer, advocate Poojari says he visited the police station on April 2. “The police didn’t permit me to fulfill her or see her. I approached the court docket instantly. The court docket directed the police to provide Mallige earlier than it,” he says.
Mallige was produced earlier than the fifth Mysuru district and periods court docket on April 2 as proof that she was alive. In her assertion earlier than the court docket, Mallige confirmed that she had been residing together with her boyfriend since November 2020. “She claimed she was unaware that her husband had been arrested for her homicide,” says advocate Poojari.
Issuing notices to the Mysuru Superintendent of Police Vishnuvardhana N and the Investigating Officer (IO) of Bettadapura police station, the court docket requested them to reply to the costs of false arrest leveled by Suresh.
Advocate Poojari provides, “The court docket has summoned the Mysuru district SP, the IO and different police officers related to the case on Thursday (April 4). It has additionally requested the SP to submit a report (on alleged negligence in dealing with the case) by April 17.”
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Mysuru SP Vishnuvardhana didn’t reply to calls and messages by The Indian Specific.
For Poojari, the larger concern now could be the actual id of the lifeless lady’s whose stays had been misidentified.“Now that we all know Mallige is alive, the police ought to reveal the id of the lifeless lady. She is estimated to be aged round 28-30 years,” he says.
He provides, “The police haven’t simply framed Suresh, however have additionally not tried to determine the girl whose stays had been misidentified as Mallige’s.”
