Thanking the railway police for their cooperation, the commissioner informed that the accused was caught around 10:30 pm in Davanagere.
Police inspecting the murder scene in Hubballi. (Screengrab)
A 22-year-old man was arrested on charges of killing a 20-year-old young woman after she allegedly rejected his advances, police said on Friday, 17 May.
Girish Sawanth stabbed Anjali Ambiger (20) multiple times at her home in Veerapur Oni in Hubbali on Wednesday, 15 May, and went absconding.
“The accused was nabbed on Thursday night. He has been arrested in connection with the case,” a senior police officer said.
Speaking with South First Hubballi Dharwad City Police Commissioner Renuka K Sukumar said, “We had formed the right teams to nab the accused. It was challenging to catch him as he was neither using a mobile phone nor in contact with the family members or friends.”
“We got information that he took a bus from Gokul Bus Stand in Hubballi. We assumed that he boarded a bus to Davanagere. However, he changed multiple buses before reaching Davanagere,” added the police commissioner.
Thanking the railway police for their cooperation, the commissioner informed that the accused was caught around 10:30 pm in Davanagere.
The accused had sustained face and head injuries and was admitted to the local hospital by the railway police. Upon receiving this information the Hubbali police nabbed him.
According to the police sources, Girish sustained the injuries while trying to jump off from the moving train in Davanagere.
The sources added, “He has been admitted to the hospital for further medical care, his statement will be taken and he will be produced before the court once he is fit.”
The victim’s family has alleged that they had complained to the police that the accused had threatened the victim with meeting the same fate as 23-year-old college student Neha Hiremath. Neha was stabbed to death by her former classmate at her college campus in Hubballi on 18 April. Neha’s murder was given a communal colour by various outfits and opposition parties in Karnataka.
Anjali’s family also alleged that the police did not take the complaint seriously.
Yashodha Ambiger, younger sister of the victim, told reporters earlier in Hubballi: “We went to the police station on Hanuman Jayanthi (23 April) to inform this matter. He had threatened Anjali that if she did not go along with him to Mysuru, he would kill her similar to the recent murder (referring to Neha Hiremath case) that occurred at a college in Hubballi.”
“We detailed this to the police who assured us that they would look into the matter. Police searched for him but couldn’t find him. He fled after stealing the jewellery of a girl from the same locality. Police have tried their best,” Yashodha added.
A police inspector and a woman head constable were suspended on charges of dereliction of duty over the murder of the young woman.
Yashoda, recalling the incident said, “A person named Girish knocked on our door in the wee hours on Wednesday. When we opened the door, he entered inside and asked for our grandmother, who was sleeping.”
“When we woke her up, he asked her to get Anjali married to him as he is in love with her. My grandmother asked him to bring elders from his home to speak about it. Then, he threatened my sister to come out,” said Yashodha.
“He took out a knife and asked my sister to step behind. As she was moving aside, he stabbed her in the stomach. We had also alerted police about him threatening us.”
Yashodha said that he used to threaten his sister frequently over the phone.
It should be noted that, with at least eight similar cases reported in the last year, Karnataka has been witnessing a rise in such cases.
In all the cases, women have been killed for the sole reason of rejecting advances by men or asserting themselves.
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