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In a shocking incident, a 19-year-old woman hailing from Assam was found dead in Bengaluru’s Indiranagar area on Tuesday (November 26).
The decomposed body of the victim, identified as Maya Gogoi Deka, was discovered in the service apartment, which she had reportedly booked with her acquaintance, Aarav Hanoy, 21, on November 23.
The incident raises concerns about women’s safety because it follows two cases in which working women from other states were murdered by their male acquaintances in Bengaluru.
Here’s all we know about the case.
The murder
Maya Gogoi Deka checked into the service apartment of the Hotel Royal Living, located opposite Double Road Park, 1st Stage Indiranagar, on November 23 (Saturday) afternoon.
She was accompanied by Aarav Hanoy, a native of Kerala’s Kannur, the police said. According to several media reports, the suspect was Deka’s boyfriend.
The incident came to light when housekeeping staff on Tuesday morning detected a foul odour. Using a spare key, they opened the room and discovered Gogoi’s body on the bed with multiple stab wounds.
The preliminary investigations showed that Deka had multiple stab injuries and a head injury. However, the likely cause of death was a deep stab wound in her chest.
Her mobile phone, which was recovered from the crime scene, has been sent for forensic analysis.
A case under Section 103 for murder and 238 for causing the disappearance of evidence and offence has been registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police said, adding teams have been formed to nab the suspect.
Also read: The shocking arrest of Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa, 'girlfriend' over fan’s murder
‘Spent nights with the body’
The police suspect that Hanoy had killed Deka on November 24 by stabbing her in the chest and stayed with the body for more than a day before walking out of the apartment on November 26.
Hanoy was at the service apartment for the last three days with the victim.
“The suspect left the apartment around 8.20 am on Tuesday and took a cab. He switched off his phone after travelling for a few kilometres and has been untraceable since,” a police officer close to the investigation told Deccan Herald.
The 21-year-old suspect was reportedly working as a student councillor for a private education firm at HSR Layout in Bengaluru, while Deka was a vlogger and also worked at a private firm in Jayanagar.
Her sister, who also lives in Bengaluru, told the police that the deceased had known Hanoy for six months, however, how the two met is unclear.
Premeditated murder?
According to police investigations, the murder was premeditated.
The suspect had brought an old knife in a bag, which is yet to be recovered, and had bought a nylon rope from the quick commerce app, Zepto, on Monday.
“Why he ordered the rope is a mystery. We will know more once he is arrested,” the officer said.
The officer said the exact date of the murder can be ascertained only after they get the post-mortem report.
The motive behind the murder is yet to be known, however, authorities suspect personal disputes may have led to a horrific crime.
Also read: Why murder of Neha Hiremath, Karnataka Cong corporator's daughter, has triggered a ‘love jihad’ row
Safety concerns
In September this year, Mahalakshmi, a 29-year-old salesperson at a clothing factory, was murdered and her body was cut into 59 pieces , allegedly with a sharp cleaver knife, by her lover Mukti Ranjan Ray, who escaped from Bengaluru, days after committing the gruesome crime.
In July, Kriti Kumari was stabbed multiple times by her ex-boyfriend, Abhishek, in her PG facility in Bengaluru’s Koramangala. The chilling CCTV footage of the gruesome incident shook the nation.
The reputation of India’s Silicon Valley, which was once considered the safest place for young working women in the country, has been declining.
A senior police official from Bengaluru’s Central Crime Branch told The Print that increasing murders in the city today involve “love and betrayal.”
The report, citing data from the Bengaluru Crime Branch, stated that there were about 702 murders reported in Karnataka in the first eight months of this year alone. Twenty-three of the victims were killed by their lovers, including live-in partners. Last year, the tally was 41, while the previous year, it was 20.
The rise in crime is often blamed on romances, ‘Western values’ and ‘working women’.
In 2021, according to Indian Express, BJP MP and former Karnataka Health Minister, K Sudhakar, pinned the blame on the “mindset” of educated and working women that has “broadened too much” due to “Western values.”
However, gender activist Brinda Adige feels such “regressive” views could lead to calls for rules and regulations of live-in relationships, and that “big brother” methods will not help.
“Police officials tend to have a patriarchal mindset while registering cases of live-in couple murders. They tend to shift the blame on the woman victim to escape filing a case. This allows the perpetrator to think they can get away,” Adige told The Print.
With inputs from agencies
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