Bengaluru’s Mahalaxmi Murder Case Viral With Communal Angle

The police identified the prime accused in the case as Mukti Ranjan Roy, who died by suicide after fleeing Karnataka

Social media users have shared posts about a woman’s gruesome murder in Karnataka’s Bengaluru, claiming that it was a case of ‘love jihad’ - a term popularised by the right-wing, where they refer to a conspiracy about Muslim men entrapping Hindu women for marriage and forced religious conversion.

The claim: Those sharing these posts have claimed that the deceased, identified as Mahalaxmi, was killed by a man called Ashraf, with whom she allegedly had an extra-marital affair.

• Several notable and X premium accounts also shared details regarding this claim, identifying the accused as Ashraf.

• These include the accounts of BJP Karnataka, Rishi Bagree, Arun Pudur, and Wokeflix, and media organisation DNA India. 

(Archives of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here, here, here, and here.)

But…?: Several news reports, the Bengaluru Police, and the Bhadrak police have identified the prime accused as Mukti Ranjan Roy (or Rai).

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News reports on the incident: We ran a Google search with the keywords ‘Mahalaxmi Bengaluru murder’ to find more details about the case.

• This led us to a report by India Today, which cited police sources and said that the prime accused in the case, one Mukti Ranjan Roy, had fled to Odisha, where he reportedly confessed to the crime to his mother.

• Another report by the organisation mentioned that Mahalaxmi was married to one Hemant Das, but had separated. Das named Ashraf, a man he thought she had an illicit affair with, as a suspect in the case.

• An article by ABP News, which carried information from news agency PTI, reported that Ashraf had initially been called in for questioning by the Bengaluru police, but was later released.

• A report by Hindustan Times carried the same details, adding that Roy had taken the aid of his brothers to flee to Odisha’s Bhadrak, his hometown, where he died by suicide.

• The police suspected that Roy had taken the drastic step “fearing arrest” in connection to the murder, Bhadrak SP Varun Guntupalli told The Times of India.

Police statements to the media: We also came across a byte by the official, shared by news agency ANI, where he, too, identified the accused as Mukti Ranjan Roy, mentioning that after his death, the police had registered an ‘unnatural death’ case and were cooperating with the Bengaluru police. 

• He added that they found a note left by Roy, where he allegedly admitted to the murder.

Mahalakshmi murder case | Odisha | SP Bhadrak, Varun Guntupalli says, " A team of Bangalore Police had come here to probe the recent murder of a woman there. The team said that the prime accused belonged to Bhadrak. Before the team could apprehend the accused, Mukthirajan died by… pic.twitter.com/RpRqBqpYXb

— ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2024

• Bengaluru commissioner B Dayananda spoke to the press about the case in a press conference, where he also mentioned similar details about Roy and the note found.

• He also said that the Bengaluru police, as on 27 September, were yet to receive a copy of the letter due to the matter being sub-judice in Odisha, and would conduct further investigation into the case. 

• His statement can be heard in English at the 19:04 mark in this video, uploaded on Bengaluru City Police’s YouTube channel.

As on 3 October, there have not been any further developments and the case is yet to be closed.

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