Bengaluru: A general surgeon of Bengaluru has been arrested on charges of murdering his wife – also a doctor – by administering an overdose of anesthetic.
Dr Mahendra Reddy has been accused of murdering Dr Kruthika Reddy, a dermatologist, at their home in the Munnekollal locality in the eastern part of the city on April 21. The two, doctors at the Victoria Hospital, got married on May 26, 2024.
Mahendra rushed Kruthika to a nearby hospital after she fell ill. She was declared dead on arrival there and a case of unnatural death was initially registered at the Marathahalli Police Station.
During the inspection at their home, the Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO) recovered key evidence, including a cannula set, injection tube, and other medical items. These items were handed over to investigators for forensic analysis.
Viscera samples were collected and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to determine the cause of death.
The FSL report later confirmed the presence of Propofol, a powerful anaesthetic drug, in the victim’s organs, indicating a criminal act.
Based on this report, the Kruthika’s father filed a complaint on October 13, alleging that his son-in-law had murdered his daughter using the anaesthetic agent. Mahendra was arrested from Manipal, a university town in coastal Karnataka, on Tuesday.
The accused had tried to use his medical expertise to make the death appear natural, but failed.
“Evidence collected till now points at the role of the husband in the crime, as he was the person who brought her to the hospital initially and didn’t mention anything that could have gone wrong. He claimed she was not in good health and was undergoing treatment, now we have learnt that she was injected with some sedatives, which shows there was a malafide intention, therefore this needs to be investigated,” Bengaluru police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said.
The incident has sparked shock and disbelief among the medical community in Bengaluru. The police are trying to ascertain the motive behind the crime.