Domestic help arrested for murder of elderly woman in Kurnool district

Police cracked the mystery behind the murder of a 75-year-old woman at her house with the arrest of her domestic help, on Tuesday. Police recovered property stolen by the accused from the elderly woman’s house and the weapon used to commit the offence.

Disclosing the details of the case to the media here, Superintendent of Police (SP) Vikrant Patel said that the deceased, Katasani Sivaneela alias Sivaleela, residing in Ganesh Nagar-II under Kurnool III Town police limits was found murdered on September 1, with gold ornaments on her body and in the house missing. Based on a complaint by her son-in-law T. Chandrasekhar Reddy, a case was registered.

Police found that a woman, Kurava Varalakshmi, a widower from Gopalanagaram village of Pyapili mandal in Nandyal district, had joined the victim’s house to work as a domestic help and suspected her involvement in the case. Varalakshmi was nabbed from her elder sister’s house in Chetlamallapuram village of Veldurthi mandal and later questioned.

The SP said that Varalakshmi planned to kill the elderly woman and rob her valuables to make easy money. On the day of the murder, Varalakshmi collected her widow pension at her village and went to Dhone. From Dhone, she took a bus to Kurnool and got down at Gooty petrol filling station, he added.

“From there, Varalakshmi travelled to Rythu Bazaar in an autorickshaw and got down. After getting down, she tied a scarf to her face and entered Sivaleela’s home. Varalakshmi started a conversation with the elderly woman and suddenly attacked her with the wooden pestle on the head. As Sivaleela fell down, Varalakshmi smashed her head with the pestle and then robbed six tola gold chain and five tola gold bangles from the victim’s body. The accused also stole two bags from the house and jumped over the compound wall on the rear side of the house and escaped,” the SP said.

Police recovered the stolen gold ornaments, six cheque books, seven pass books, and the wooden pestle used to commit the offence.