A Bengaluru court has sentenced a 38-year-old tech professional to life imprisonment for the 2016 murder of his woman friend, relying heavily on the “last seen” theory and CCTV evidence to establish guilt.
The convicted man, identified as Sukhbir Singh from Haryana, was found guilty of murdering 31-year-old Kusum Rani Singla, an IBM employee who lived in an apartment in Kadugodi. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000.
CCTV and witness statements proved crucial
According to the prosecution, Kusum was last seen alive on January 19, 2016, when she came down to escort Singh to her apartment. CCTV footage later showed Singh leaving the building alone around 3.30 pm.
The postmortem report estimated the murder occurred between 12.30 pm and 3 pm. Statements from security guards, apartment staff, and CCTV visuals played a major role in securing the conviction.
Officials also said handwriting experts confirmed that the signature entered in the apartment visitors’ register belonged to Singh.
Murder discovered by roommate
The crime came to light later that evening when the victim’s roommate returned home and found the apartment door open with blood-stained footprints near the entrance.
Kusum was discovered dead inside the flat with stab injuries and strangulation marks. Police found that her phone, debit cards, and credit cards were missing after the murder.
Accused traced through bank transactions
Investigators later recovered Singh’s blood-stained clothes from a shopping mall dustbin. Police said he allegedly bought fresh clothes using the victim’s debit card before fleeing to Haryana after withdrawing Rs 30,000.
Police arrested Singh from his native village in Haryana on January 21, 2016.
Investigators stated that the two had become friends through Facebook and that Singh had reportedly been pressuring the victim for a loan before the incident.