• Woman kills husband blames tiger
• Murdered for Rs. 15 lakh Govt. compensation for death caused by wild animal attack

Mysore/Mysuru: In a shocking crime driven by greed, a woman from Chikkahejjuru village in Hunsur taluk allegedly murdered her husband to fraudulently claim Rs. 15 lakh Government compensation given for victims of wild animal attacks.

She concocted a story that her husband had been dragged away by a tiger, triggering a large-scale search operation by Police and Forest officials — only for investigators to later uncover the gruesome truth.

The accused, identified as Sallapuri (40), has been arrested. The victim was her husband Venkataswamy (45), whose body was discovered buried inside a cow dung pit near their home.

The incident took place last Tuesday (Sept. 9) at Chikkahejjuru, near Veeranahosahalli, on the Mysuru-Kodagu district border. The couple, married for several years, have two children who were staying with relatives in Bidadi for their education.

Couple hired to maintain farm

Venkataswamy, a native of Bidadi, and Sallapuri, originally from Kadampura in Halaguru hobli of Malavalli taluk, were earlier working in Bidadi. They later took up employment at Chikkahejjuru, where they were tasked with maintaining a 4.10-acre arecanut farm owned by two engineers, Ravikumar and Arunkumar, from Bengaluru.

The landowners fixed a monthly salary of Rs. 18,000 for the couple. The farm property had two houses — One was kept locked by the owners for their use while the other one was given to                                    the couple to stay.

Greed and growing discord

Police investigations revealed that Sallapuri had a strong desire to lead a lavish lifestyle and was desperate to acquire money by hook or crook. This obsession led to frequent quarrels between her and Venkataswamy.

In pursuit of her ambitions, Sallapuri regularly visited Taluk Panchayat and Gram Panchayat offices, making inquiries with village accountants and other officials about various Government schemes offering compensation or financial aid.

During one such visit, she learnt that the Government provides Rs. 15 lakh compensation to families of victims killed by wild animal attacks — particularly tigers or elephants. This discovery set her murderous plan in motion.

The sinister plot

Last Tuesday, Sallapuri allegedly mixed poison into Venkataswamy’s food. After he consumed it and died, she dragged his body out of the house.

She then dug a five-foot-deep cow dung pit, buried the body, and carefully covered it with layers of dung, leaves, jowar straw, and other waste to conceal the crime. To make her plan believable, she needed to create the illusion of a wild animal attack.

The Police complaint

On Tuesday evening, Sallapuri approached the Hunsur Rural Police Station and lodged a missing person complaint. In it, she claimed that while she and Venkataswamy were inside their house, they heard the roar of a tiger. According to her, Venkataswamy rushed outside to investigate but never returned.

She alleged that a tiger had killed him and dragged his body into the nearby forest through a jowar field. Inspector Muniyappa, believing her account plausible as their house was located near the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, immediately registered a case and alerted the Forest Department.

Massive search operation launched

The incident caused panic among officials and locals, as a tiger dragging a man from inside his home is a grave and rare situation. The Police and Forest Department swiftly formed multiple teams, joined by villagers, to track the supposed tiger and search for Venkataswamy.

More than 50-60 people participated in the search operation, combing the forest fringes, jowar fields and nearby areas.

To make her story more convincing, Sallapuri pointed to a section of a fence bent by a wild elephant the previous week, claiming it was where the tiger had dragged her husband away.

However, investigators noticed no signs of pug marks, blood stains, struggle or damaged jowar plants that would typically indicate a tiger dragging a human body.

Inconsistencies raise suspicion

Despite two days of intense search, there were no tiger pugmarks or other evidence of an attack. Investigators also began to notice Sallapuri giving conflicting statements, frequently changing her version of events. Inspector Muniyappa grew suspicious and decided to search the property thoroughly.

During search, the Police team observed faint drag marks leading from the house towards a cow dung pit. Although heavy rain on Tuesday night had partially erased the marks, the team followed the trail and dug the pit.

At a depth of two feet, they discovered a human hand protruding from the soil. It was identified as a male hand.

Confronted with the evidence, Sallapuri broke down during interrogation and confessed to poisoning her husband and burying him, with the intention of claiming the Rs. 15 lakh wild animal attack compensation. A spot mahazar was conducted, and Sallapuri was formally arrested.

Exhumation under official supervision

As per procedure, the physical presence and permission of the Assistant Commissioner (AC) are required to exhume a buried body. The Police informed Hunsur AC Vijay Kumar, and arrangements were made to exhume Venkataswamy’s body from the pit on Thursday (today).

CCTV footage from cameras installed around the arecanut farm showed only Sallapuri’s movements during the time of the crime, confirming she acted alone.

A dog squad and fingerprint experts were brought to the scene for further evidence collection. The investigation has now intensified to verify her claims and gather corroborative proof.

The case is registered at Hunsur Rural Police Station. The investigation was closely supervised by Additional SP C. Mallik and Dy.SP Gopalakrishna.

Inspector Muniyappa led the team, assisted by SI Radha, Fingerprint Squad Inspector M.R. Balasubramanya, ASI H.R. Harish, Head Constable Madhu Chandra and Scene of Crime Officers Adarsha and Mohit.