A 36-year-old man allegedly murdered his wife, Gouri Anil Sambrekar (32), stuffed her body into a suitcase, and abandoned it in their rented house in south Bengaluru. He then fled the city, only to be arrested 24 hours later near Pune on Thursday night.
The victim, Gouri, a graduate in mass media and actively seeking a job, and her husband, Rakesh Rajendra Khedekar, a project manager at a software firm, had recently moved to Bengaluru from Mumbai. They had rented a first-floor house in Doddakammanahalli, near Hulimavu, about a month ago.
Police revealed that the incident came to light when Rakesh called the landlord on Thursday evening at around 5:30 pm. He confessed to murdering his wife the previous night, telling the landlord to inform the police and Gouri’s family about the death. In a shocking twist, Rakesh also mentioned that he had already fled the city.
The landlord, startled and concerned, rushed to the house but found the door locked from the outside. After calling helpline 112, the Hulimavu police arrived, broke open the door, and discovered Gouri’s body stuffed inside a trolley suitcase.
As investigators tracked Rakesh’s movements, they discovered his phone was still active. DCP (Southeast) Sarah Fathima coordinated with the Maharashtra police, and Bengaluru police flew to Pune that evening. With the help of local authorities, Rakesh was apprehended near Pune around 9:30 pm. He is being brought back to Bengaluru for further investigation.
