Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 16 : 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 anaesthetic drugs, police said on Wednesday.
According to the police, the husband, Dr Mahendra Reddy, allegedly overdosed his wife, Kruthika M Reddy, with anaesthetic drugs that caused fatal respiratory depression, leading to the death of the victim. The accused attempted to misrepresent the death as natural.
The wife, Kruthika M Reddy, reportedly fell ill and was rushed to the nearby hospital in Ayyappa Layout, Munnekolalu. The doctors examined her and confirmed that she was brought dead.
Commissioner of Police, Seemanth Kumar Singh, said that following the incident, an Unnatural Death Report (UDR) was filed, stating that the doctor died under mysterious circumstances.
"In the Marathahalli Police Station police station limits in the month of April 2025, there was a UDR reported of a lady who died under mysterious circumstances, but there was no complaint as such. The police have done a good job in this, as they have properly collected the evidence. The team has collected the evidence properly and sent it to the FSL," CP Seemanth Kumar Singh said.
The UDR team collected material evidence, including the cannula set, injection tube, and other medical items used in the act, and handed them over to the investigating officers for further action.
On the same day, the investigating officers collected viscera samples from the deceased's body to ascertain the exact cause of death and sent them to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for expert opinion.
According to the police, the FSL experts reported that sedative (Propofol) substances were present in the organs of the deceased.
Following this, the deceased woman's father lodged a complaint at the Marathahalli Police Station on Monday, expressing suspicion that his son-in-law, Dr Mahendra Reddy, had murdered his daughter by administering sedatives.
Acting swiftly on the complaint, the Marathahalli Police apprehended the accused from Manipal, Udupi.
CP Seemanth Kumar Singh said that all the evidence points toward the husband's involvement in the murder.
"The evidences which has been collected till now point to the hand of her husband because he was the person who had brought her to the hospital initially and had never complained about what happened and said that she was not in good health and she was undergoing treatment," he said.
Authorities alleged that Mahendra Reddy misused his professional access to OT and ICU facilities at the hospital to procure and administer the drug. He then attempted to misrepresent the death as natural and reportedly pressured the victim's family to forgo both a police complaint and a post-mortem examination.
Muni Reddy, father of the victim, sought strict punishment against the accused.
"Dr. Kruthika trusted her husband completely she believed in his love and in his profession. But the same medical knowledge that should have saved lives was used to destroy hers. Our family seeks the harshest punishment for this premeditated act and justice for our daughter, whose loss is not just personal but a loss to society," he said.
The incident reportedly took place less than a year after their marriage on May 26, 2024.
The accused remains in police custody while further investigation is still underway.