Six months after the death of a 29-year-old dermatologist from Bengaluru, Marathahalli police have arrested the victim’s husband, a fellow doctor, for allegedly murdering his wife by injecting her with anaesthetic, police said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Kritika’s family has accused her husband Mahendra of foul play, claiming that he was involved in an extra-marital affair and was giving her unnecessary medicines and drips.
“We had suspicions from the day my sister died,” Kritika’s sister, Dr Nikhita, told reporters on Thursday. She claimed the family pushed for an autopsy, but Mahendra resisted and staged an “emotional drama” to avoid it.
Nikhita said that Kritika was in good health and that their family treated Mahendra like a son until they discovered what she described as his “immoral relationship”.
Father donates house worth ₹3 million for ISKCON
A ceremonial name plate now stands in front of the house in Ayyappa Layout. “In memory of Dr Kruthika M Reddy”
“I built that house to see my daughter live a happy life with her husband and children,” Reddy told The Indian Express. He has since donated property to ISKCON.
Read also | Bengaluru surgeon kills wife with anesthetic overdose, shocking details emerge
“Our daughter believed her marriage was built on respect and love,” he said. “But the very medical knowledge meant to save lives was used to take hers. It was a formal complaint by Muni Reddy that led to the arrest of Dr. Mahendra, Kruthika’s husband, now accused of her death.
How did Mahendra Reddy stage his wife’s death?
According to the police, husband Dr Mahendra Reddy allegedly overdosed his wife Kruthika M Reddy with anesthetic drugs which caused fatal respiratory depression leading to the victim’s death. The defendant tried to misrepresent the death as natural.
Wife Kruthika M. Reddy reportedly fell ill and was taken to a nearby hospital in Ayyappa Layout, Munnekolal. Doctors examined her and confirmed that she had died.
Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said that an unnatural death report (UDR) was filed after the incident, stating that the doctor died under mysterious circumstances.
Read also | ‘Never hurt her’: Husband hands over cheating wife to lover, gets cow in return
“A UDR was reported in Marathahalli police station limits in April 2025 about a lady who died under mysterious circumstances but there was no complaint. The police did a good job in this as they collected the evidence properly. The team collected the evidence properly and sent it to FSL,” said CP Seemanth Kumar Singh, as reported by ANI.
The UDR team collected material evidence, including a cannula set, an injection tube and other medical items used in the crime, and handed it over to the investigating officers for further action.
On the same day, investigators took viscera samples from the deceased’s body to determine the exact cause of death and sent them to the Forensic Laboratory (FSL) for expert opinion.
According to the police, FSL experts said that sedative substances (propofol) were present in the organs of the deceased.
The deceased woman’s father then lodged a complaint at the Marathahalli police station on Monday, suspecting that his son-in-law, Dr Mahendra Reddy, had murdered his daughter by sedating her.
The Marathahalli police acted swiftly on the complaint and arrested the accused from Manipal in Udupi.
Read also | A woman called the Knot Dating app a “central gold mine” for the top 1% of men
CP Seemanth Kumar Singh said all evidence points to the husband’s involvement in the murder.
“The evidence gathered so far points to the hand of her husband because he was the person who brought her to the hospital in the first place and he never complained about what happened and said he was not in good health and was undergoing treatment,” he said.
Authorities alleged that Mahendra Reddy abused his professional access to the hospital’s OT and ICU facilities to obtain and administer the drug. He then tried to misrepresent the death as natural and allegedly pressured the victim’s family to drop both the police complaint and the autopsy.
Father demands ‘severe punishment’
Muni Reddy, father of the victim, demanded severe punishment for the accused.
“Dr. Kruthika trusted her husband completely, believed in his love and in his profession. But the same medical knowledge that was meant to save lives was used to destroy her lives. Our family seeks the harshest punishment for this premeditated act and justice for our daughter, whose loss is not only personal but a loss to society,” he said.
The incident reportedly took place less than a year after their wedding on May 26, 2024.
The accused remains in police custody pending further investigation.
