A 22-year-old woman was bludgeoned to death by a spurned man who then committed suicide by hanging himself to death, in Moodbidri Police limits on Friday.
The police gave the names of the victim as Charishma (22), a resident of Saldanha Compound at Pranthya village, and the assailant as Lohith (26), a resident of Muger in Bajal in Mangaluru.
Charishma was residing with her elder brother and mother in a rented house and was alone at the time of the incident. Lohith, tresspassing into the house, allegedly stabbed her in the neck and hit her head with a hammer, the police said.
As the woman raised an alarm, neighbours rushed to her house, following which Lohith entered another room and hanged himself to death, the police said.
Though the woman was immediately rushed to a hospital, she breathed her last on the way, the police said.
It is said that the assailant was a distant relative of the victim, who was a dance artiste, and had proposed to marry her. While the woman rejected the proposal, her mother, Champavathi, who works in a government office at Karkala, had reportedly told him that she would consider his marriage proposal for her daughter later. Enraged with Charishma’s refusal, Lohith committed the offence by entering her house from the backyard, the police said.
Moodbidri Police, who have registered cases, are investigating. MLA Umanath Kotian, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Traffic) Uma Prashanth and other officers visited the spot.