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I never died and my husband didn’t murder me, Karnataka woman tells court in false murder case

After she wanted to go back with her boyfriend, the Mysuru court allowed her to return to her village.

On April 1, Suresh and his friends found out that his wife was very much alive and was now with her boyfriend. (Express Photo)

A Karnataka woman who was assumed to be killed by her husband—for which “crime” he spent two years in prison—has stated in a court that she was neither dead nor murdered by him.

After Mallige, who had her statement recorded by a judge in the Mysuru district and sessions court on Wednesday, went missing from her home in November 2020, her husband Kurubara Suresh, 35, filed a missing-person complaint in the Kushalnagar rural police station in Kodagu district. In June 2021, however, the tribal man was arrested by the Bettadapura police in Mysuru district on the charges of murdering his wife after a woman’s skeleton was discovered, leading to his two-year-long incarceration. He was released on bail later.

On April 1, Suresh and his friends found out that his wife was very much alive and was now with her boyfriend. They immediately informed the police.

Must Read | A missing wife, a skeleton and a cup of coffee: How a tribal man, who spent 2 years in jail, tracked down his wife

Senior advocate B S Pandu Poojari told indianexpress.com that the court asked the police to submit a report on April 17 and directed the investigating officer and other police personnel to be present during the hearing.

Pandu Poojari said that Mallige, now in a state women’s home in Mysuru, wanted to return to her village with her boyfriend Ganesha. After recording her statement, the court allowed her to go back to her village. The judge also instructed her to be present in the court on all hearing dates.

Suresh’s counsel Poojari had argued that the skeleton, which had been discovered in the Bettadapura police limits, was not Mallige. With the medical reports including DNA reports indicating the same, her husband was granted bail.

The police are yet to confirm the identity of the skeleton, which is around 28-30 years old.

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Suresh and Mallige have two children, an 18-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter. He said he had been aware of his wife’s affair while filing the missing-person complaint but chose not to reveal it even after he was arrested.

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alleged murder