The Jnanabharati police on Monday arrested a 40-year-old woman and her friend who allegedly killed a woman from their neighbourhood to rob her gold chain to repay their debts.
But after brutally killing the 26-year-old home alone Ranjitha on Saturday , the accused realised that the deceased had borrowed the gold chain from her friend and had returned it. The accused had to take her thali and cut her ear lobes to rob two grams of ear studs weighing 6 grams from her.
The arrested are identified as Indiramma, 40, a resident of Jnanajyothinagar and Rajashekar, 37, KP Agrahara. The duo had killed Ranjitha, a resident of the first floor of a multi-story building where Indiramma was staying on the ground floor.
According to the police Indiramma worked as cleaning staff at a catering firm and due to the lockdown, did not have work. She had not paid rent for the last four months while her friend Rajashekhar had debt of ₹2 lakh. The duo was thinking of all possible means to get the money to repay but in vain.
Ranjitha had borrowed a gold chain from her friend to attend a function and displayed it before Indiramma, which gave her the idea to kill her to get the gold chain.
On Saturday, Indiramma went to Ranjitha house for a casual chat. Ranjitha cooked lunch and went to take bath when Indiramma asked Rajshekhar to come.
As soon as Ranjitha came out, Rajshekhar killed her. The duo searched for the gold and realised that it was not there. They later took the thali and ear studs. The accused kept the knife in the right hand of the deceased to make it look like suicide, a police officer said .
Ranjitha was native of Bidar and was living with her husband Omkar and brother-in-law Nirankar, both working in private firms. Nirankar, on returning home from work, had found Rajitha lying dead in a pool of blood around 4.30 pm on Saturday.
During investigation, the police detained Indiramma, and she confessed to the crime. Later, the police nabbed Rajashekhar.
