The case came to light on March 6 when local resident Chandraappa Hittalamani informed Halageri police about the discovery of a decomposed female body in the river
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Haveri: Haveri district police have arrested all the three accused in the murder of 22-year-old Swati Byadagi, whose body was found floating in the Tungabhadra River near Pattepur village in Ranebennur taluk.
The accused, Nayaz Imam Saab Bennigeri (28), Durgachari Badiger, and Vinayak Nagappa Pujari, were taken into custody. The latter two were apprehended in Chitradurga on Friday.
The case came to light on March 6 when local resident Chandraappa Hittalamani informed Halageri police about the discovery of a decomposed female body in the river. The body was bloated, making identification difficult. Initially, police registered an unnatural death case under Section 194(3)(iv) of the BNS 2023.
A postmortem at Haveri District Hospital later revealed that the victim had died due to asphyxia caused by ligature strangulation, confirming that it was a case of murder. Police updated the case to a homicide under BNS Sections 103(1) and 238(A).
During investigations, police found a missing person report filed at Hirekerur police station on March 7 that matched the victim’s description. The deceased was identified as Swati Ramesh Byadagi, a resident of Masur in Rattihalli taluk.
Nayaz was the first to be arrested on March 13. During interrogation, he admitted to killing Swati with the help of Durgachari and Vinayak. Nayaz confessed that on March 3, he had taken Swati to Suvarna Park in Ranebennur, where he was later joined by his associates, Durgachari Badiger and Vinayak Nagappa Pujari, both from Masur.
Nayaz took Swati to an abandoned school near Kabbinakanti Math in Rattihalli, where he along with Durgachari and Vinayak attacked and strangled her with a towel.
That night, the trio transported her body in Vinayak’s Baleno car and dumped it into the Tungabhadra River from a bridge near Nandigudi village.
Following Nayaz’s arrest, police intensified their efforts and managed to track down and apprehend the remaining two accused in Chitradurga.
According to sources the preliminary investigation indicates towards personal reasons for the murder. Police officials are investigating the case and collecting more details.
Meanwhile, Haveri MP and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai condemned the murder and alleged that "Love Jihad" networks are actively operating in Karnataka. He blamed the Congress-led state government for the deteriorating safety of women and stated that such crimes are increasing due to the lack of fear among criminals.
The MP said even a week after the incident, efforts to protect the key accused, Nayaz, seem evident.
He alleged that reports indicate Nayaz pretended to be in love with Swati, later rejected her for being from a different religion, and decided to marry another woman from his own faith. When Swati confronted him about this, he allegedly killed her.
Bommai urged strict action against the perpetrators and demanded justice for Swati’s family.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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