Bank Employee Found Murdered at Home in Telangana, Former Husband Prime Suspect

Hyderabad: A 23-year-old woman was found murdered on Tuesday evening in Telangana's Siddipet district, just a few days before her wedding on February 26.

The incident took place at the deceased's home in Gujwel, which is Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's constituency, while her parents were away.

The Telangana Police have registered a case of murder and an investigation is underway.

The victim's relatives protested in front of a government hospital where the body was shifted for postmortem, threatening to not move it until the culprits are

A police report identified the victim as Divya, working as an assistant manager with the Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank (APGVB) in Gujwel. She was the third daughter of Nayalakanti Laxmirajya and Manemmala who hail from Yellareddipet in Rajanna Sirisilla district.

Divya and her parents lived in a rented house near her office in Gujwel. She was scheduled to marry her fiance, a man named Sandeep hailing from Warangal, on February 26. After coming home on Tuesday, Divya was speaking to Sandeep over the phone when he suddenly heard her loud cries.

Sandeep then informed her colleagues, who rushed to check on her and found her lying in a pool of blood on the staircase of her house, said the police. Divya's body was found with her throat slit and with stab marks on several parts of her body. The police said no weapon was recovered from the murder scene, hinting that the murdered knew when Divya would be alone at home.

Divya's mother claimed that her daughter was killed by her former husband, Venkatesham. While Divya and Venkatesham were reportedly married, the two lived separately as his parents allegedly did not approve of the marriage on the basis of caste differences.

Divya, who studied with Venkatesham in the same school, had been allegedly harassed by him several times. He reportedly only stopped after a complaint was registered against him at a police station, claimed Divya's mother. Recently, the accused had started harassing her again after which a complaint was filed against him at the Vemulawada police station.

Local villagers claim that Divya was a minor when she married Venkatesham, forcing her parents to send her to a hostel.

To investigate the matter, the police reached Venkatesham's house in Vemulawada, which was found locked. The police have taken his parents into custody.