Man held for poisoning wife to death over his extra-marital affair in Karnataka

CHIKKAMAGALURU: A 37-year-old man was arrest for allegedly causing his wife's death by poisoning her food with cyanide in Karnataka.

Shweta (30) had been married to Darshan for more than seven years, and the couple has a four-year-old son. Darshan, a lab technician, owns diagnostic centers in Bengaluru.

The couple, residing in Bengaluru, had returned to their native village in Devarunda in the Chikkamagaluru district three days ago. They had a strained relationship ever since she discovered his extra-marital affair, leading to frequent quarrels, as per the police.

In the course of the interrogation, the accused admitted to poisoning his wife's food with cyanide, as stated by a senior police officer.

On Monday morning, Darshan's brother informed Shweta's family about her death, attributing it to a heart attack. However, upon the family's arrival at Darshan's house, they discovered minor injury marks on Shweta's body. They suspected that a quarrel between Darshan and Shweta on Sunday night might have been a factor in her death, according to the police officer.

The family of the woman lodged a complaint with the police, accusing her husband of poisoning her to death. Additionally, they provided an audio clip of Shweta in which she was heard urging another woman not to engage with her husband, the police officer added.

The post-mortem report of the deceased indicated the presence of poison in her intestines. The audio clip and autopsy report heightened suspicions regarding Darshan. During persistent questioning, he admitted to investigators that he killed his wife by adding cyanide to her food, as per the officer.

"A murder case was filed, and Darshan was apprehended on Tuesday evening. According to his admission, he added cyanide to her food. However, we are still awaiting the forensic experts' report to determine the specific chemical he used to cause her death," he added.

(With inputs from Agency)