A 65-year-old retired Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) employee allegedly strangled his wife to death at their residence in Bengaluru. Police said Nageshwar Rao allegedly killed his wife with a towel because he was worried about her future after his death.
The incident was reported around 11:00 AM under the Avalahalli Police Station. Accused Nageshwar Rao has been taken into police custody, authorities added, after the dead body of his wife Sandya Sri Rao was found in their flat in Virtuoso Apartment Complex in Bommanahalli area of Whitefield.
Referring to the preliminary investigation, a senior police officer said that Nageshwar Rao is reportedly undergoing treatment for depression.
Police said the former ISRO employee also wanted to end his life after killing Sandya Sri, but instead informed a relative. The relative then alerted the police. Also read | No salary for 18 months, engineer who contributed to Chandrayaan-3 forced to sell idlis
A police team arrived at the residence and took Rao into custody. A case of murder has been registered and further investigation is underway.
“He was reportedly undergoing treatment for depression and was in distress. He reportedly had an intention to take his own life after the incident and therefore assaulted his wife. There do not appear to be any other compelling reasons,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Whitefield) Saidulu Adavath said, PTI reported.
The couple’s daughter, who is in the United States, has been informed of the incident, police said. He returns to Bengaluru.
According to reports, the couple hailed from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. They have been living in Bengaluru in the Whitefield flat for the last three years.
In 2019, an ISRO employee was found murdered in his apartment in Hyderabad, Telangana city. SR Suresh Kumar was an employee of the National Center for Remote Sensing. He was found dead in his apartment.
Earlier in December, a technician shot dead his wife while she was returning home from work in Bengaluru. After killing his wife, Balamurugan walked into the Magadi Road police station, confessed to the crime and surrendered, police said.
It later emerged that Balamurugan, a software engineer, wanted an assassin to do the job, but that was dropped, police told PTI. Balamurugan doubted his wife’s character and they often argued over it, sources said.
During the investigation, it was found that he had approached a troublemaker Moulesh from Salem in Tamil Nadu to get the job done, police sources said.