Constable, four others arrested for abetting homemaker's suicide

BANGALORE: A constable attached to the Kumaraswamy Layout station was arrested by Whitefield police following allegations that he and four others, including his sister, allegedly harassed a homemaker Srikala and her husband for money.
The arrest comes after Srikala, 32, a resident of Immadihalli near Whitefield left a suicide note accusing the constable of harassing her and her husband Murali Krishna, 40."The couple had borrowed some money from the sister of the constable identified as Somashekhar. The constable's sister used to lend money and Somashekhar would abuse his power as a policeman to collect money from defaulters," a police officer said.
Murali Krishna and Srikala had a shop in Papareddypalya near Jnanabharathi in Bangalore West but had incurred huge losses. "They relocated to Immadihalli some time ago with their relatives just to escape the wrath of the moneylenders. Murali claimed he had borrowed only Rs 1.7 lakh from the constable's sister, but the constable claimed the amount was Rs 15 lakh. The dispute over the borrowed money is still under investigation," Whitefield police said.
The constable threatened the couple and collected part of the amount they had borrowed. "Due to the endless harassment, Srikala allegedly hanged herself on Tuesday morning. In her death note she accused constable Somashekhar and his sister and three others of harassing her to return the money they's borrowed. The note alleged that the constable had threatened the couple of dire consequences if they failed to pay the rest of the money," said an investigating officer.
Police said Somashekhar allegedly threatened the couple with foisting criminal charges against them. Somashekhar, his sister and three others was arrested on Wednesday and they were remanded to judicial custody by a court for abetting the suicide.