Karnataka man, 70, who set wife on fire arrested after 27 years

A 70-year-old man, absconding for 27 years after allegedly setting his wife on fire, has been arrested, the Karnataka police confirmed on Friday.
The accused, Ningappa, had fled in 1997 following the incident, which took place within the Nonavinakere police station limits in Karnataka, the PTI reported.
The arrest was made as part of a crackdown on long-pending cases, a senior police official said. According to the police, Ningappa doused his wife with kerosene and set her ablaze over a domestic dispute. She later succumbed to her injuries in the hospital.
Ningappa was apprehended three days ago when he returned to his village. “We tracked him down through his son, who had started contacting him upon his return,” Tumakuru Superintendent of Police Ashok K V told PTI.
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The victim had given a dying declaration while hospitalized, stating that her husband had beaten her and poured kerosene on her.
“A dying declaration is irrefutable, and no one can shield the accused in such cases,” the SP added.
Initially, the case was registered as an attempt to murder, but following her death, it was upgraded to murder charges.
In another case, recently, a Bengaluru cloth merchant was stabbed by his former employee’s boyfriend at KEB Park in BTM Layout, just a day after he proposed to her. The victim, identified as Hitendra Kumar, is currently recovering in a private hospital in Bengaluru and is reportedly out of danger. The accused, Siddu, 27, and his girlfriend have been arrested by the Suddagunte Palya police on charges of attempted murder, the report added.
In another case, Bengaluru Police recently arrested 29-year-old Pavitra Suresh and her 20-year-old boyfriend, Lovlish, for conspiring to murder her mother, Jayalakshmi, and fabricating a story to make it appear as though her death was accidental.
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