Mysore/Mysuru: Police investigations into the death of a 45-year-old woman from Mysuru have revealed that her husband and two of his friends were transporting her body in a car, allegedly to dispose of it in the thick jungles of Siddapura-Madikeri route.

Their plan was foiled when Forest Department personnel intercepted the Haryana-registered Alto car (HR-26-CE-9273) at Maldare-Lingapura forest check-post in the early hours of Saturday. An Unnatural Death Report (UDR) has been registered at Siddapura Police Station.

The deceased is Nankidevi (45), a resident of Kumbarakoppal in Mysuru and originally from Bhamboor village in Sirsa district, Haryana. Her husband, Rakesh Kumar and his friends Vikas and Satveer, are now in Police custody.

Dies by suicide

Speaking to Star of Mysore this morning, Siddapura Sub-Inspector (SI) Manjunath said their investigation indicated that Nankidevi died by suicide. He said Rakesh and his friends attempted to dispose of the body in forest to avoid Police involvement.

According to the investigation, Nankidevi attempted suicide on Friday. Around 8 pm, while Rakesh was at work, she reportedly called him during an argument, threatened to end her life and then disconnected the call.

Rakesh rushed home, broke open the door with help of neighbours and found her hanging. She was reportedly still breathing at the time. Neighbours and house owner, Bhajan Lal, advised him to take her to hospital.

A Police team from Siddapura later visited Kumbarakoppal and verified these details, SI added.

Drive to Madikeri

Bhajan Lal even handed over his car to Rakesh to take Nankidevi to a Mysuru hospital. However, instead of heading to the hospital, Rakesh and his friends drove towards Madikeri. By the time they left Kumbarakoppal, Nankidevi had died, and the trio allegedly decided to abandon her body in the jungle.

Hunsur-Maldare stretch is densely forested, but the accused were unaware of Forest Department check-post and were caught. Police said the trio even stopped en route and consumed liquor while the body remained inside the car.

At about 1.30 am, house owner Bhajan Lal called Rakesh to enquire about Nankidevi. Rakesh allegedly misled him, saying her condition was stable.

Police said, Rakesh was Nankidevi’s second husband. Her first husband, Ramkumar, is still in Haryana and reportedly unwell. She had eloped with Rakesh and moved to Mysuru one-and-a-half-years back, where Rakesh worked as carpenter.

Police said the trio may face charges related to unlawful transportation and attempted disposal of a dead body. With Nankidevi’s relatives refusing to travel from Haryana, the Police will obtain consent from Rakesh for post-mortem, which is scheduled for today. The body has been kept at the Madikeri General Hospital mortuary.