In a disturbing incident in Bengaluru, a 25-year-old man is accused of murdering his 32-year-old wife following an argument fueled by suspicions of an extramarital affair. The accused allegedly strangled his wife and then attempted to stage her death as an accidental electrocution by placing her body in a bathroom with a water heater turned on.
The couple, Prashant Kammar and Reshma, had reportedly met on Instagram about nine months prior and married shortly after a brief courtship. Reshma was previously married, and her first husband, Surender, had passed away due to illness not long after their wedding. She had a 15-year-old daughter from this previous marriage.
Prashant, who works as an electrician, hails from Huvina Hadagali in the Ballari district, while Reshma resided in Maragondanahalli, Hebbagodi.
The Motive: Suspicion and Rage
Despite marrying within months of meeting, Prashant and Reshma’s marital life was reportedly fraught with conflict. Prashant harbored deep suspicions about Reshma’s character, frequently accusing her of infidelity and engaging in frequent arguments over the matter. A police official involved in the investigation stated, “From the very beginning, Prashant was suspicious of Reshma’s character. He often accused her of having an affair and picked fights with her.”
The fatal altercation occurred on Wednesday, October 15. During a heated argument, Prashant allegedly assaulted Reshma and subsequently strangled her. To conceal his crime, he placed her body in the bathroom and manipulated the scene, turning on a water heater in a bucket of water to create the illusion of an accidental death.
“He filled a bucket with water, turned on the water heater, and left the body there to make it look like an accidental electrocution,” the officer explained.
Reshma’s daughter discovered her mother unresponsive in the bathroom upon returning from school. She alerted her grandmother, leading to Reshma being rushed to a local hospital, where she was tragically declared dead on arrival.
Overwhelmed by his deceit, Prashant eventually confessed his crime to the police. He admitted that his suspicions about his wife’s alleged affair led to the argument, during which he killed her in a fit of rage. “I thought my wife was having an affair with another man. I slapped her during an argument and then strangled her. To hide the crime, I tried to make it look like she died of electric shock,” he reportedly told investigators.
A murder case has been registered against Prashant Kammar, and the investigation is ongoing.
(With inputs from Coovercolly Indresh)