59-year-old retired serviceman murders wife

BENGALURU: In MPM Layout, Nagarabhavi, a 59-year-old ex-serviceman, Javare Gowda has been arrested for allegedly murdering his wife at their residence by hitting her with a metal Buddha idol.

Gowda works as a conductor with the BMTC. He is an alcoholic, due to which he would often fight with his wife, Manjula KB, 49, police said.

Gowda had retired from the Army after serving for 20 years and later joined the BMTC. Their elder son, Chethan, who is a software engineer, lives abroad, and the younger one, Chandan, in HSR Layout.

On February 18 Gowda fell at his residence and had sustained head injuries. He was on leave when Manjula was killed between 9.50 AM and 7 PM on the 14th of March. The crime was discovered when Chandan, rushed home after he was unable to contact his mother. Chandan had spoken to his mother at 9.47 AM that day, police said.

Based on a complaint by Chandan, the police had filed a case of murder against Gowda. He told the police that his mother was upset with the vigorous drinking habit of Gowda.

Police have suspected that, Gowda might have killed Manjula during a fight. A police officer said that, "The accused took a metal idol and hit the woman on the head. We found him on March 15 and arrested him on charges of murder."