Mysuru: Man serves jail time for wife's 'murder'; she resurfaces alive in court
Mysuru, Apr 04 (PTI): A court here, taking serious note of lapses on the part of the police, has ordered the Superintendent of Police to submit a complete report before April 17 in connection with a case in which a woman, allegedly murdered by her husband in 2020, has now appeared before it—alive.
This comes even as Suresh, the husband of the woman named Mallige, had spent almost one-and-a-half years in jail on murder charges.
The case pertains to the arrest and imprisonment of Suresh, aged about 38, who had lodged a complaint in December 2020 stating that his wife Mallige had gone missing from Kushalnagar in the Kodagu district.
Subsequently, the police found the skeleton of a woman in Bettadarapura and filed a charge sheet in court, alleging that the skeleton belonged to Mallige and that Suresh had murdered her. He was then jailed.
On April 1, Mallige was found in Madikeri by a friend of Suresh, who saw her with another man.
The matter was brought to the notice of the Fifth Additional District and Sessions Court, and she was subsequently produced before the court.
Taking serious note of the police's lapses, the court on Thursday directed the SP to submit a complete report on the case by April 17.
Speaking to reporters, Suresh's advocate, Pandu Poojari said, "Suresh, who is from a village in Kushalnagar, had lodged a complaint in 2020 at the Kushalnagar Rural Police Station regarding his wife's disappearance. Around the same time, a skeleton was found within the Bettadarapura police station limits. A year later, Bettadarapura police arrested Suresh, alleging that he had killed his wife over an illicit affair. A case was registered against him."
The police had sent the skeleton for a DNA test along with blood samples from Mallige’s mother.
"Even before the DNA report came, the police filed the final charge sheet in court. Later, though he got bail, the DNA test report that eventually came showed a mismatch," he said.
When a discharge application was filed citing the DNA mismatch, the court did not accept it and asked for witness examination, including that of Mallige’s mother and villagers.
"Everyone deposed before the court that she was alive and had eloped with someone. The court questioned the Kushalnagar and Bettadarapura police about the loopholes in the charge sheet, but they defended their investigation and maintained that the skeleton belonged to Mallige and that Suresh had murdered her," the advocate said.
Meanwhile, on April 1, Mallige was found at a hotel in Madikeri, having a meal with a man. She was spotted by Suresh’s friend, who is also a witness named in the charge sheet.
She was taken to the Madikeri police station, following which an "advancement application" was filed before the district judge's court.
"The court, treating the matter seriously, asked police to produce her immediately. She was then presented in court. When questioned, she admitted to eloping and marrying another man. She said she was unaware of what had happened to Suresh. She had been living in a village named Shettyhalli, just 25–30 km from Madikeri, but police made no effort to trace her," he added.
Calling this a very serious and rare case, the advocate said the key questions before the court now are: whose skeleton was it, and why did the police file a false charge sheet?
"The court had summoned the SP and the investigating officers in the case, but they had no answers to offer. It has now directed the SP to file a complete report on the lapses before April 17 before delivering the judgment declaring Suresh innocent," he said.
Stating that he is awaiting the court’s final order, the advocate said that once it is issued, he will file a writ petition in the High Court regarding the trauma his client endured and against the police for filing a false case against him.
"I will seek justice and compensation for my client. We will also approach the Human Rights Commission and the ST Commission, as Suresh is a poor man from the ST community," he said.
Further, he added there should be a probe into the skeleton case and whether there was a conspiracy by the police to close both cases by naming Suresh as the accused.
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If Cong really has sympathy, it should appoint Muslim party chief; give 50% tickets to them: Modi
Hisar (Haryana), Apr 14 (PTI): If the Congress really has sympathy for Muslims, it should appoint a Muslim as its president and give 50 percent tickets to people from the community, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday, accusing the party of pursuing a policy of appeasement which benefited none.
Addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone of a new terminal building AT Hisar's Maharaja Agrasen Airport and flagging off a commercial flight to Ayodhya, Modi attacked the Congress on the changes made by it in the Waqf law in 2013.
He also said Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar advocated there should be no reservation on the basis of religion and the Constitution also bars it, but the Congress government in Karnataka gave reservation in tenders on the basis of religion by "snatching away" the rights of the SCs, Scheduled Tribes and the OBC.
He alleged the Congress followed a policy of appeasement which "pleased" only a few "fundamentalists" from among Muslims, while the rest of the community remained neglected, illiterate and poor.
The biggest proof of this Congress' policy was the amendments it made in the Waqf law on the eve of the 2014 general elections, Modi said.
"From Independence till 2013, there was a Waqf law. But to win elections, and in pursuing a politics of appeasement and vote bank, the Congress made amendments in the Waqf law hurriedly late in 2013 so that it can get votes in elections (few months later in 2014)," said Modi.
Modi said the changes effected by the Congress were "the biggest insult to Babasaheb" as they violated the Constitution he built.
"If they (the Congress) really have some sympathy for Muslims, they should appoint their president from the Muslim community. Why do not they do it?" he asked.
He also asked the Congress to give 50 percent election tickets to people belonging to the Muslim community. "After they win, they will put forth their views," said Modi. "But they (the Congress) will not do it. They will give nothing from the Congress but will snatch away the rights of citizens," he said.
The Congress never had any intention of doing any good to anybody including Muslims, he said. "This is the real truth of the Congress."
He said the Waqf board owns lakhs of hectares land in the country which could have been utilised for the benefit of the poor, the destitute women and children. "Had it been honestly utilised, Muslims youths would not have to spend their lives by fixing puncture tyres."
"It benefited only a handful of land mafia. There was no gain to Pasmanda Muslims. This land mafia was looting the land of Dalits, downtrodden, 'aadiwasis' and widows. Hundreds of widows women wrote to the Centre and then a debate on this law took place," said Modi.
After the amendment to the Waqf law -- enacted by his government and implemented from April 8 after the presidential approval to the Waqf Amendment Bill 2025 -- such loot of the poor will stop, he said.
"We have made another amendment in the Waqf law. Under this, the Waqf board now cannot even touch the land and property of any 'aadiwasi' in the country," he said.
Modi had recently said the new Waqf law was a significant step taken by his government towards social justice. He said the previous law, enacted in 2013, was an attempt for appeasement of land mafia and Muslim fundamentalists.
"We have done a big job of protecting the rights of Aadiwasi and following the spirit of the constitution," he asserted.
With the new provisions, the pious spirit of the Waqf will also be respected, he noted.
"Poor Muslim, Pasmanda families, Muslim women especially widows and children will also get their rights and their rights will remain protected in future," he said.
This is the real spirit and social justice, he said.
