Kalaburagi couple killed by girl’s harasser: Cops

KALABURAGI: A 21-year-old man, accused of harassing a minor girl, killed her parents after the father threatened to file a Pocso case against him, police said.
The accused, Mahesh Subhash Rathod, had gone to the house on the night of October 3 to murder the girl but she was not at home. Mahesh and his accomplices killed the parents instead as they saw the intruders and tried to raise an alarm.
The murder of the couple in Dinasi tanda of Kamalapur taluk on October 3 had jolted the village.The husband and wife were bludgeoned to death in front of their 10-year-old son; the killers hadno’ even spared the woman who was seven months’ pregnant.
Police said two months ago, the girl’s father had filed a Pocso complaint against Mahesh but the latter forced him to withdraw it, promising to marry the girl. The four others arrested are Topu Hemala Rathod (49), Esu Hemala Rathod (38), Santhosh Chavan (32) and Ravi Chavan (25). All the accused have been sent to judicial custody.
SP Simi Mariam George said Mahesh and another youth, Sadashiv Topu, were harassing the 16-yr-old girl and her 14-yearold sister respectively, claiming they were in love. Their father filed a harassment complaint against both. While Sadashiv was arrested, Mahesh ran away. Over the following days, Mahesh asked the father to withdraw the complaint, saying he would marry the girl once she turned 18. The girl’s father complied and as the days passed, pressured Mahesh to get engaged. He also spoke to Mahesh’s parents and threatened to file a complaint again and send him behind bars.
Police said Mahesh decided to kill the girl to put a stop to the matter. He had kept in touch with his friends, who agreed to help him. He went to the girl’s house on Saturday night but she was sleeping at her uncle’s. As her parents saw the men and shouted for help, they targeted them.