Dry fruit shop supervisor kills live-in partner, tries to pass it off as suicide

A 26-year-old supervisor at a dry fruit shop was arrested for allegedly murdering his live-in partner following a domestic quarrel and attempting to portray the crime as a suicide in Varthur police station limits on Thursday (March 14, 2026).

The victim, Ranjitha (24), a native of Ponnampet in Kodagu district, was found dead at a rented house in Kodathi area. The accused, Ayyappa, who was in a relationship with her, has been taken into custody by the police.

According to investigators, Ayyappa was already married but had separated from his wife. He allegedly promised to marry Ranjitha and convinced her to move to Bengaluru. The couple had been living together for the past two months in a rented house owned by a man identified as Gopal.

Police said Ranjitha was working at a D-Mart outlet while Ayyappa was employed as a supervisor at a dry fruit shop. Frequent quarrels reportedly erupted between the two after Ranjitha began insisting that Ayyappa divorce his first wife and marry her.

During a heated argument on Thursday midnight, Ayyappa allegedly strangled Ranjitha with a wire, killing her on the spot.

After the murder, the accused allegedly tried to stage the incident as a suicide . He reportedly created a scene to make it appear that Ranjitha had taken her own life and informed the house owner before shifting her to a hospital.

However, when Varthur police inspected the scene and examined the body, they noticed suspicious injury marks on the neck. Further investigation and questioning exposed the alleged murder, and Ayyappa later confessed to the crime.

Police have registered a case and further investigation is underway.

(Those in distress or having suicidal thoughts are encouraged to seek help and counselling by calling the helpline numbers here)