A surgeon at a Bengaluru hospital has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife Dr. Kruthika M. Reddy by administering a lethal dose of propofol (anesthesia) under the guise of treatment. He “carefully” planned his wife’s murder and tried to disguise it as a natural death.
Dr Mahendra Reddy (31) and Kruthika (28) tied the knot on May 26, 2024 in Gunjur, Bengaluru, Kruthika’s father said. Both worked at the Victoria Government Hospital in Bengaluru.
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“Dr. Kruthika trusted her husband completely. She believed in his love and in his profession. But the same medical knowledge that was meant to save lives was used to destroy hers,” Muni Reddy, the victim’s father, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
…”the same medical knowledge that should have saved lives was used to destroy her.” — Kruthik’s father
A “carefully” planned murder
Police said Mahendra allegedly used his expertise and intimate knowledge of his wife’s medical history to plan the act “with clinical precision”.
According to PTI, the authorities alleged that Mahendra Reddy misused his professional access to the OT and ICU facilities of the hospital to purchase and administer the drug.
Whitefield DCP M Parashuram was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying, “Mahendra carefully planned the murder of his wife. He knew her medical vulnerabilities and used his expertise to exploit them.”
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Mahendra “overdoses” his wife: IV shots, no CPR
According to the police, husband Dr Mahendra Reddy allegedly overdosed his wife Kruthika M Reddy with anesthetics which caused fatal respiratory depression leading to the death of the victim, PTI reported.
Kruthik’s father Muni Reddy claimed that on April 21, Mahendra administered intravenous (IV) medicine to Kruthik at their residence, claiming it was for stomach trouble.
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He left her at her parents’ house the next day, saying she needed rest, and returned later that night to give another IV dose, Seemant Kumar added.
On April 23, Kruthika complained of pain at the IV site. Mahendra advised her over WhatsApp not to remove it and said he would administer another dose that night, the officer said.
At around 9.30pm that day, he went to her room to administer the medicine. The next morning, April 24, Kruthika was found unresponsive.
She reportedly fell ill and was taken to a nearby hospital in Ayyappa Layout, Munnekolal. Doctors examined her and confirmed that she had died.
Although Mahendra is a doctor, he reportedly did not perform CPR.
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.
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Kruthika ‘died under mysterious circumstances’?
Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said an unnatural death report (UDR) was filed after the incident, stating that the doctor died under mysterious circumstances.
“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 as such,” said CP Seemanth Kumar Singh.
“The police did a good job in this because they collected the evidence properly. The team collected the evidence properly and sent it to the FSL,” he added.
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How Bengaluru Police cracked the case
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.
The police told PTI that FSL experts said sedatives (propofol) were present in the organs of the deceased.
Husband Mahendra arrested
Thereafter, Kruthik’s father filed a complaint at the Marathahalli police station on Monday, alleging that his son-in-law, Dr Mahendra Reddy, had murdered his daughter by sedating her.
The police registered the case based on the FIR filed by Muni Reddy, converting the earlier report of unnatural death to a murder investigation.
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The Marathahalli police acted swiftly on the complaint and arrested the accused from Manipal in Udupi on October 14. 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.
Why did Mahendra kill Kruthik?
Kruthik’s father Muni Reddy alleged in his complaint that after marriage, Mahendra started showing neglect towards Kruthik and complained that she sought her father’s approval even for minor household decisions and forced her to bear personal expenses, a police officer told PTI.
It was also alleged that Mahendra pressured wife Kruthika’s family to fund the construction of a large hospital, but instead Muni Reddy said he set up a clinic called “Skin & Scalpel” in Marathahalli for the couple’s medical practice.
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Another theory emerged when, according to the Hindustan Times, the police later discovered that Mahendra was distraught after learning that Kruthika suffered from long-term stomach and metabolic disorders, information her family allegedly had not disclosed before the wedding.
Investigators believe the revelation sparked months of resentment that culminated in a carefully orchestrated poisoning.
(With input from agencies)
