Bengaluru: In a rare legal precedent, a Bengaluru court Monday sentenced two men to life imprisonment for the 2021 kidnapping and murder of a 47-year-old widow, despite her body never being recovered.
Another witness, Gattu Inayatulla, claimed to have seen Seetha in Feb 2022.
Public prosecutor Shailaja Nayak said she has received threats from the convicts following the verdict. They are also making negative comments about the court’s order,” she said. Her brother, Venkatesh Achar, initially approached Kurnool police, suspecting those interested in the property. He later filed a missing-person complaint with Subramanya Nagar police in Bengaluru. Cross-examination established that he was the brother-in-law of Noor Ahmed. The prosecution questioned why he had not informed police or court that Seetha was alive while his relative was facing trial for her murder. “They are threatening me and other witnesses repeatedly.
Presiding Judge Mallikarjun Swamy HS detailed the conspiracy and attempts to mislead the court in his 200-page judgment.
Public prosecutor Shailaja Nayak said the verdict was significant as murder convictions without recovery of the victim’s body remain rare. The convicts — Noor Ahmed S and Satyanarayana alias Satya, both from Mantralayam in Andhra Pradesh — were found guilty of plotting a contract killing over a property dispute and disposing of the victim’s body in a canal. The victim, Seetha Achar, lived alone in Rajajinagar after her husband’s death. A dispute arose over family property in Mantralayam, which Seetha refused to sell despite other family members wanting to dispose of the land.
The case remained unsolved for seven months until Subramanya Nagar police traced Seetha’s final movements through call detail records. The investigation uncovered an alleged contract killing involving four men — Noor Ahmed, Satyanarayana, Mental Raghu and Kumara.
Raghu and Kumara died of health complications before the trial.