Overview
- Ranjitha Bhanasode, about 30, was stabbed in public on Saturday while returning from work in Yellapur and died en route to hospital, police said.
- Uttara Kannada Superintendent of Police Deepan M N said the prime accused, Rafique Imamsab, was found hanging in a forest near the town on Sunday.
- Investigators say the two knew each other from school and that Imamsab had recently pressured her to marry him after she had separated from her husband.
- Police registered a murder case under the Indian Penal Code and invoked the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
- Hindu organisations staged protests, called a Yellapur bandh and framed the killing as ‘Love Jihad’, prompting additional force deployment and heightened security.