Crime returns to Bangalore: Woman hacked in BTM Layout

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Bangalore:
A young woman was hacked to death on Monday evening by two bike-borne assailants in full public view on 7^th Cross, BTM Layout.
    Divya S, 23, an employee of a private company, was heading to her NS Palya home at 6.45pm when the two men blocked her. They slashed her repeatedly on the neck and face with a machete before speeding away on their twowheeler, which bore no registration number. It was all over in 40 seconds, eyewitnesses told TOI.
    While some shocked passersby ran away, others tried to stop the assailants. The rush-hour traffic was blocked for nearly 30 minutes, and police had a tough time clearing vehicles and shifting Divya to Sagar Hospital on Bannerghatta Road.
    Divya succumbed to her injuries at 9pm. Her family members said she breathed her last even before she was taken to the operation theatre.
    Deputy commissioner of police, southeast, PS Harsha told TOI: “We have definite clues about the assailants and will arrest them shortly.”
    The incident took place a stone’s throw away from the IPS officers’ colony, where senior officers, including DG&IGP-in-charge A R Infant and former city police commissioner Shankar Bidari, reside.
    Divya worked as administrative head with a private footwear-manufacturing company in Koramangala. She is survived by her parents and three sisters. Hailing from Kundapur, the family shifted to Bangalore around five years ago.
    Last month, a friend of Divya is reported to have proposed to her, but she said “no” as she had already chosen her life partner, a friend of hers said. Divya’s colleagues said she moved around with the man, making him think she was in love with him. He hacked her without any mercy: eyewitness 
Bangalore: The brutal killing of Divya S, a private firm employee, on a busy street in BTM Layout sent shockwaves through the area.
    Eyewitnesses said they froze as the gory scene unfolded before them. Narayana Gowda, accountant with a private firm, was sipping tea, and close to him, two men were sitting on a grey Yamaha motorbike.
    “The place is full of eateries and it is common to see men sitting on bikes,” he said. Narayana, a resident of Kadirenahalli, said: “I saw this girl walking towards the circle. Suddenly, the man on the pillion pulled out a machete and ambushed her. He swung the machete towards her head and her skull cracked open. Blood pumped out like a fountain. I could not believe what I saw,” he said.
    The rider started the bike and they sped away towards Ragi Gudda, leaving the machete behind. “Though some of us tried to stop them, they vanished in no time. The bike had no registration number and the rider was wearing a full-face helmet,” another eyewitness told TOI. The news spread quickly, and Divya’s friends and colleagues gathered near Sagar Hospital. The main suspect appears to be a friend who had proposed to her, and who she had turned down.
    “We know the name of the man, but we’re not revealing it for investigation purposes,” a senior police officer said.

Divya S

Divya’s father Shyam (R) and a relative are inconsolable after her death

CRIME SITE: The spot where S Divya was murdered at BTM Layout, on Monday; (left) The sword used to kill the girl