An ugly and chilling incident rocked the quiet village of Kesagodu in Belur taluk, which witnessed domestic violence, murder, and suicide and has turned up to be the cause of a mystery. A 41-year-old man allegedly killed his wife during a car journey before hanging himself. The victim's body is still missing and extensive search operations are underway in the nearby Yagachi canal.
The deceased individuals are said to be Raghu (41) of Kesagodu village in Bikkodu hobli and his 38-year-old wife Gagana, who were originally from Sanenahalli village in Halebidu hobli. They were married for 13 years and were parents of two sons aged 12 and 6. In recent years, they moved to Chikkamagaluru town and ran a bakery business and lived in a residential area behind the house of local leader and MLC C. T. Ravi.
Raghu left his Chikkamagaluru residence on Friday, after he took his wife Gagana in their family car on the false pretense of going to Kesagodu village. In a chilling video statement later retrieved by investigators, Raghu claimed he murdered his wife in a moving vehicle. He continued to Kesagodu village at about 6:30 PM, which caused panic among his family. He then made a video call to his relatives and admitted to taking Gagana’s life.
During the disturbing video call, Raghu told his horror-stricken relatives that he had disposed of his wife’s lifeless body by throwing it into the deep waters of the Yagachi canal. Raghu ended his life shortly after that call by hanging himself from a structure in Kesagodu village.
Based on the relatives’ frantic calls, the Arehalli police station rushed to the scene to secure the area and conduct a preliminary inspection. A massive search operation was organized in the Yagachi canal by local police and professional rescue teams to locate and recover Gagana's body due to the serious nature of the situation. A criminal case has been registered at the Arehalli police station and forensic teams are at work with investigators to determine what motivated this tragic family tragedy.
