Mysuru: With a woman presumed to be dead resurfacing on Apr. 1, 2025, after a gap of five years, the needle of suspicion is on the Police and the investigation conducted in a hasty manner.

The Police had forced the husband of the woman to languish behind the bars for two years till he came out on bail and this report has now caught the attention of the judiciary and put fear in the general public about trusting the Police.

Mallige is that woman, who was declared dead and the hapless husband is Suresh, who was accused of her murder, based on skeletal remains that were found in a bush on Nov. 12, 2020 at Shanuboganahalli in Bettadapura Police Station limits in Periyapatna taluk of Mysuru district.

The skeletal remains were that of a woman aged between 28 and 30 years and had been done to death with a huge blow to her head.

Police report declared that this was the remains of Mallige and that Suresh is the murderer. But three days ago, Mallige was found alive and well with her paramour Ganesh in Madikeri.

Now the mystery is: Whose skeletal remains were found?

The story of Mallige’s murder begins when the then Periyapatna Circle Police Inspector B.G. Prakash, was informed on Nov. 12, 2020, that skeletal remains were found in his jurisdiction of Shanuboganahalli in Periyapatna taluk.

The very next day, on Nov. 13, Suresh visits Kushalnagar Rural Police Station and files a missing person’s complaint about   his wife Mallige.

Subsequently, Circle Police Inspector B.G. Prakash, who was posted in Periyapatna,  sends his staff to bring Suresh to Bettadapura Police Station.

To Suresh’s shock, a murder case was registered against him instantly based on a complaint filed in this regard by his mother-in-law Gowri.

The mother-in-law Gowri in her complaint had stated, “Suresh, a drunkard was torturing his wife daily under the influence of liquor and was harassing her to bring dowry. He has killed my daughter.”

Interestingly after Suresh was jailed and the case went to trial, his mother-in-law and the son told the Court that the Police dictated the complaint to Suresh’s son who wrote the complaint and since he was a minor he could not sign it so Gowri gave her thumb impression for that complaint based on which the Police arrested Suresh.

Circle Police Inspector’s statement

CPI B.G. Prakash in his investigation report, had quoted the confession statement of Suresh, where he had reportedly narrated about how he killed his wife and disposed of the body in the bush.

To corroborate further, Mallige’s mother had identified the clothes found on person, the Police had filed in their report, that was suffice to send Suresh behind bars, to serve his period of judicial custody.

Suresh, who was financially poor and eking out a living as a daily wage labourer couldn’t afford to hire a advocate to fight his case. Hence, the Police themselves had arranged a advocate for him, who strangely abstained from appearing before the Court. Meanwhile, Suresh’s bail plea had been rejected by the Court.

Advocate’s help sought

Meanwhile, Gandhi, father of Suresh, who was brooding over his son’s suffering, found a ray of hope in Mysuru-based Advocate Pandu Pujari, a social activist, who was regularly participating in social movements in Kodagu.

Gandhi narrated his ordeal before Pandu Pujari, who took a serious view of the case and got into action.

Pujari made arrangements to collect the blood samples of Gowri, mother of Mallige and sent it for a DNA test. Meanwhile, Suresh’s trial was about to start. By this time, Suresh had already spent two years jail as an undertrial.

Advocate Pujari, who was aware of his client’s innocence in the case, had managed to get bail for him, with the help of his friend a High Court advocate and the DNA test did not play a role in it.

Interestingly, Police had filed a 158-page chargesheet and produced 56 witnesses supporting Police version that Suresh had murdered his wife!

Surprisingly eight witnesses out of 56 presented before the Court so far turned against                              the prosecution.

Police probe comes into question at a trial

As the trial began, Mallige’s mother Gowri told the Judge that she was forced to give her thumb impression on the complaint copy, as the Police had been beating her son-in-law.

“My son-in-law hasn’t tortured my daughter, whom I believe to be alive and living elsewhere. The clothes produced by the Police as that of my daughter’s, was also not identified by me,” Gowri told the Judge.

Even Suresh’s son told the Court that, he had written the complaint as told by the Police and his father didn’t have any drinking habit.

The persons, who were produced as evidence, also told the Court that Mallige was alive and is suspected to be living with another person either in Virajpet or Kerala.

The mystery skeleton and other questions

As the case of ‘dead wife found alive’ is garnering a huge public attention, many questions remain unanswered.

If Mallige is alive, then whose skeleton did the Police find?

Why did the Bettadapura Police led by CPI B.G. Prakash unilaterally decide Suresh was the murderer?

Why didn’t the Police wait for Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report, before digging deep into the case?

This case has caused much distrust in the public about Police and their ability to deliver justice.

Reminds of ‘Jai Bhim’…!

This case of ‘Dead wife found alive,’ where her husband had to suffer the torment, though being innocent, reminds us of the 2021 runaway hit Tamil film Jai Bhim where actor Suriya, played the role of an advocate, who fights to bust the mystery behind a ‘missing person.’

In ‘Jai Bhim,’ the Police fix innocent persons on the charge of theft at a Zamindar’s house. The Police torture them to the hilt to confess to the crime they did not commit. During the torture one of the accused succumbs to the beating and dies. The Police dispose his body and file a case of ‘accused escaping from Police custody.’

Like Advocate Pandu Pujari, Advocate Chandru takes up this case to expose the Police brutality and cover up.

Also Read: Advocate Pujari turns saviour for murder accused Suresh