A teenage girl and four of her friends have been taken into custody by the Bengaluru City Police for allegedly murdering the girl’s 34-year-old mother — a case that was initially dismissed as suicide.

The victim, a single mother employed as a telecaller in the money recovery department of a finance firm and lived with her school dropout daughter.

On October 27, the woman’s elder sister discovered her body hanging from the ceiling after repeated calls went unanswered. Police initially registered a case of unnatural death, and the family conducted the last rites without the presence of the victim’s daughter, who had gone missing.

Two days later, on October 29, the victim’s sister filed a missing person complaint. The following afternoon, the missing teenager returned to her aunt’s house and claimed that her boyfriend and three of his friends had strangled her mother on October 25, threatening her to remain silent.

“When mom told me to call the police station about my friends, they strangled her with a towel and suffocated her, then dragged her to the room. They showed me a knife and threatened me to keep quiet about this matter,” the teenager is reported to have told her aunt.

According to the aunt’s complaint, the teenager said her friends came over late at night while her mother was asleep. When the mother woke up and threatened to call the police, the group allegedly strangled her with a towel and forced the girl to stay quiet at knifepoint.

However, the aunt grew suspicious of her niece’s account and alerted the police, suspecting her involvement as well. Subsequent investigation confirmed that the teenager had actively participated in the murder. Police determined that the motive was the mother’s opposition to her daughter’s relationship with her boyfriend and his friends.

 Inputs from Indian Express 

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