Young mother, toddler, gold and cash go missing from Kerala home. Days later, a gruesome discovery in Karnataka

The police investigation led to a gruesome discovery on Sunday. Darshitha was found murdered inside a room at a lodge in Karnataka’s Saligrama, near Mysuru. A man from Karnataka, who local police said had been in a relationship with the woman for a long time, has been arrested. Darshitha’s daughter was found at her parents’ home, police said.

Karnataka Police officers said the arrested man, Siddaraju, had been planning her murder for a long time. He allegedly used explosive substances to create a small blast that led to her death.

Darshitha had been living with her mother-in-law at Kalliad village in Padiyur panchayat, under Kannur rural police limits, following her marriage to Subash. Local panchayat member, K Rakesh, said arranged marriages between men from Kannur villages and women from poor backgrounds in Karnataka were becoming increasingly common.

‘House unlocked, deserted’

On Friday, Darshitha and her two-year-old daughter left for Karnataka after her mother-in-law, Sumathi, and brother-in-law, Sooraj, went to work.

A family relative said, “When Darshitha indicated that she wanted to leave for her home, Sumathi tried to postpone the trip.”

The relative explained that when Sumathi returned home on Friday, she found the house unlocked, but deserted. “Normally, the key is kept under the doormat if someone locks the door and leaves when the others are not there. On Friday, when Sumathi returned home, the key was missing and the door was not locked. When she entered the house, she found the cash and gold missing,” he said.

“She called Darshitha, but there was no answer. After repeated attempts, a male voice answered the call, but hung up right away. The family had no idea about her relationship with Siddaraju. But she has been frequently going home in recent months,” said the relative.

The Irikkur police, who were informed about the disappearance and missing gold, started tracing them, but were informed on Sunday about Darshitha’s murder and the arrest of Siddaraju.

A Karnataka Police officer told The Indian Express that Darshitha and Siddaraju had checked into a room at the lodge on Saturday afternoon, and that just minutes later, the man rushed down to the lobby saying the woman had hurt herself and that she needed to be taken to the hospital. When staff at the lodge saw the pool of blood and the condition of the woman, however, they immediately informed the local police. Siddaraju was arrested on the spot, the officer said.

Police said the accused initially tried to mislead them, saying that Darshitha’s mobile phone had exploded while charging and that this was what had killed her. However, police found that he had access to explosive materials as part of his work and that he had allegedly used them to murder the woman.

‘Long-term relationship’

On the relationship between the two, an officer said, “During the probe, he (Siddaraju) said that they had been in love long before she got married to a man from Kerala and that they continued the relationship even after that. It looks like they had an argument before he killed her. Presently, Siddaraju is in police custody.”

The officer said they had not found any valuables at the lodge nor at the woman’s parents’ house, where she had left her daughter.

Back in Kerala, Irikkur Station House Officer Rajesh Ayotan said, “We came to know that Darshitha and Siddaraju had been friends for a long time and were constantly in touch. We don’t know the motive behind the crime. So far, we have no information on whether the stolen gold and cash have been recovered. We have registered a theft case and will seek his custody as part of the probe. In the theft case, we have not so far named anyone as accused.”