Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], January 12 : Bengaluru Police have arrested an 18-year-old youth for the murder of Kavoor resident techie Sharmila (35). It was initially suspected that Sharmila died in a fire accident in her flat in Bengaluru last week, officials said.
According to a police official, Sharmila was unmarried and lived in a two-bedroom flat in Sankalpa Nilayam, Subramanya Layout. She worked for a leading tech company in Bengaluru. A fire broke out in her flat between 10.15 pm and 10.45 pm on January 3. The fire brigade rushed to the spot, doused the fire and found Sharmila's charred body.
"Sharmila's roommate had been at her hometown in Assam since November 14, 2025. Since the fire broke out in the bedroom where Sharmila's roommate was staying, the police initially suspected that it might have been started due to a short circuit. However, one of Sharmila's friends suspected that it was a malicious act. In the wake of this, the Ramamurthy Nagar police registered a case of unnatural death," a police official said.
Police investigation revealed that Sharmila's neighbour, Karnal Kurai (18), a native of Kerala, entered Sharmila's flat through a window at around 9 pm. He asked Sharmila to cooperate sexually. When Sharmila refused, Kurai held her mouth and nose tightly and rendered her semi-conscious. She was injured and bleeding in the scuffle that ensued, police said.
Kurai then went to the empty bedroom and set fire to Sharmila's clothes and other evidence to destroy them, snatched her mobile phone and fled. Kurai, a PUC student, lived with his mother. The police have arrested him at his house and remanded him in three-day custody. Further investigation is underway, a police officer said.
A case has been registered against him under sections 103(1) (punishment for murder), 64(2) (punishment for rape) and 238 (disappearance of evidence of a crime, or giving false information to protect an offender) of the Indian Penal Code.