BENGALURU: Forty-eight of the 49 witnesses in former BJP corporator Rekha Kadiresh’s murder 3.5 years ago turned hostile during trial, but a video shot by a girl on her mobile phone that showed the fatal attack proved crucial, helping a Bengaluru sessions court convict seven men and sentence them to imprisonment for the rest of their lives.
The sessions court held the accused guilty of brutally stabbing Rekha (45) outside her residence in Cottonpet, Bengaluru, on June 24, 2021. Police had arrested and chargesheeted eight persons for the murder. Of them, Rekha’s sister-in-law Mala, R (60), died of illness during the trial. Mala’s 39-year-old son R Arun Kumar is among the convicts.
According to public prosecutor (PP) Satyavathi HR, Mala wanted to curtail the political growth of Rekha, who was married to her brother Kadiresh.
Kadiresh was murdered in 2018, and Mala suspected Rekha was behind his murder. “Also, there were family feuds contributing to the killing,” the PP said. The others convicted are Peter Anthony (49), V Suresh alias Surya (23), J Stephen (24), S Purushottam (26), Ajai K (24) and V Selvaraj alias Budan alias Captain (39).
All convicts have been in judicial custody in Bengaluru central prison since their arrest. A special team led by then DCP Sanjeev Patil succeeded in nabbing the accused within 24 hours of the murder. As many as 48 of the 49 witnesses turned hostile and refrained from attending court hearings.
