Bagalkot, 28 July  

A 29-year-old man was arrested in this district for allegedly killing his wife, suspecting her of having an extramarital affair, police said on Tuesday.

He apparently filmed the victim's final moments while she was hanging from a noose.

The woman, identified as Bhagyashree Jigalur (23), was found dead at the couple's house in Galagali village in Bilagi taluk on Monday evening, they said.

Police registered a murder case against the deceased woman's husband, Praveen Ashok Jigalur, based on a complaint filed by her father. He has been arrested on murder charges, police said.

According to police, the accused allegedly filmed his wifein her final moments while she was hanging from the noose, with the video purportedly showing her struggling, and later circulated it to several people, including her family members.

However, investigators are yet to determine whether the woman was assaulted and then hanged or whether she died by hanging after an assault, since there were blood injuries found on her body.

Around 5.30pm, the accused called the victim's father and informed him that she had died.

Preliminary investigation suggested that the accused suspected his wife of having an illicit relationship with another man. Police have recovered videos allegedly found on the woman's mobile phone, as well as those recorded by the accused after the incident.

"The accused shared those videos with the woman's father, family members and some friends. We have recovered those videos," Bagalkot Superintendent of Police Siddharth Goyal said.

According to the SP, the videos allegedly showing the affair were found on the wife's phone by the accused, who copied those videos to his own phone and shared them with some of his friends.

"We have seized the husband's mobile phone. During its examination, we found videos that allegedly led him to suspect his wife was having an extramarital affair. We are examining those videos to determine the circumstances that led to the crime," he said.

The SP added that even the victim's family had acknowledged they were aware of the alleged affair.

Responding to reports that the accused may have made a video call to the man with whom his wife allegedly had the affair and showed him what had happened, Goyal said: "We have to verify that. We have seized the phone and sent it for data extraction. We will examine the call records, the data available on the device, and recover any deleted data, if possible."

Police said the couple married in 2020 and lived together for about four years. They have a three-year-old son.

According to the preliminary investigation, while the husband was working as a driver and travelling frequently over the past two years, the woman allegedly developed a relationship with another man from the area where her parental home is located.

The alleged affair led to frequent disputes between the couple, police said.

The woman had been staying at her parents' house for the last one-and-a-half months. Investigators are also looking into her alleged complaints that her husband was not taking proper care of her.

According to the SP, on Monday, the accused allegedly went to his in-laws' house and brought his wife back to their home. The two were alone when the incident happened.

Police said blood injuries were found on the woman's body and an iron rod-like weapon has been recovered. Officers have also collected evidence from the crime scene for forensic examination.

"The post-mortem examination will clarify the nature of the injuries on the neck. We are also examining whether she was given any intoxicating substance. Stomach contents have been preserved and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis," the officer said.

Beer bottles were also found at the scene and police are examining whether the woman had been made to consume alcohol.

"There are blood injuries on the woman's body, and the accused appeared to harbour resentment towards her. Instead of attempting to save her, he recorded videos and immediately shared them with several people. The exact sequence of events will be established after a detailed investigation," he said.

Police said they would seek the accused's custody to verify the authenticity and timing of the videos recovered from the woman's phone, question witnesses and examine whether village panchayat meetings had earlier been held over the couple's marital disputes.

Further investigation is underway.