Bengaluru triple murder accused techie says parents controlled her life: Reports

Investigators have unearthed chilling details after the 24-year-old techie, who was accused of murdering her parents and younger sister with the help of her live-in partner in Bengaluru on Monday (June 22) night, was arrested near Puducherry Railway Station after a massive manhunt.

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While the duo’s relationship was one reason why Shwetha’s family was distraught with her, the dispute over her unpaid loans made things more complicated. The accused woman, on the other hand, accused her late parents of exerting too much control on her life, which caused her mental distress and pushed her to commit such a crime.

Dispute over unpaid loans

M Shwetha allegedly stabbed to death her father Somasundar (55), mother Muthulakshmi (48), and Supriya (19), inside their apartment in east Bengaluru’s Seegehalli. According to a Times of India report, the police said Shwetha and her live-in partner, J Kenneth, allegedly carried out the gruesome crime after engaging in a dispute with her family members over her unpaid bank loans, reportedly in excess of Rs 30 lakh.

Shwetha and Kenneth are graduates in engineering and former classmates at an institute in Bengaluru. They worked for a private company from home. They reportedly rented the apartment where the incident took place around two months ago.

Shwetha's family was upset with her live-in relationship

According to the police, the couple had concealed their live-in relationship from their respective families for more than a year, the Times report added.

It added that things turned worse after bank notices over the accused woman’s loans started reaching the family’s residence in Bengaluru’s Marathahalli area after she reportedly failed to pay the installments. Muthulakshmi went to her Seegahalli apartment on Sunday (June 21) evening. The following day, Somasundar and Surpiya arrived.

Soon, the issue of the loan came up and the dispute became violent. Neighbours heard screams coming from their room around 10 pm. Somasundar was later found bleeding profusely on the house’s staircase. The three victims’ bodies bore at least 50 stab injuries, said one investigating officer.

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CCTV cameras installed in the apartment complex allegedly spotted the accused duo fleeing after the incident.

Muthulakshmi and Supriya were declared brought dead after they were rushed to a nearby hospital. Somasundar succumbed to his injuries later. According to the police, the deceased father revealed that Swetha had unpaid loans and that he wanted his elder daughter to return home now and get married to Kenneth later, the Times report added.

Kenneth still not caught

The police also said that Kenneth, who is still absconding, had not told his family about his relationship with Shwetha and that he was working and living in Hyderabad. They were shocked when police officers visited them and told them about what had happened, one police officer was quoted as saying by The Times.

Shwetha accuses parents of controlling her life

Shwetha said during preliminary interrogation that her parents were controlling her life “completely” and she had no freedom, said an ETV Bharat report. She revealed that it was the reason why she butchered her family members, the report quoted the police as saying.

“My life was caged inside the house,” she allegedly told the investigators, according to a Deccan Herald report.

She said her relationship with her parents was too strained, which saw her distancing herself from them. Confrontations between them became frequent.

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Reports, however, have varied over how things unfolded on Monday. While some reports Muthulakshmi had gone to the couple’s residence alone and was killed first, and Somasundar and Supriya were attacked after they came later, others said Shwetha and Kenneth allegedly stabbed her mother and sister first when they went to her apartment together, and Somasundar faced his end when he visited later. Another report said all three were stabbed when they were together at Shwetha’s house.

Bengaluru City Police set up many teams to trace the accused after the horrific murders. While Shwetha has been arrested, searches are still on across Tamil Nadu and other places to nab Kenneth. The police are expecting to gather more information related to the murders once Kenneth is arrested.