Bangalore:
A young woman lawyer died on Thursday after she was stabbed repeatedly by a male colleague at the Karnataka High Court in the heart of Bangalore on Thursday. The man who attacked her, another lawyer, then tried unsuccessfully to kill himself.
Advocate Rajappa reportedly got furious after Naveena remained unmoved by his threats to consume poison from a bottle of rum if she kept turning down his marriage proposal.
Bystanders who witnessed the incident said it was her lack of response that provoked murderous rage in Rajappa, who stabbed her to death in the high court premises.
Rajappa also stabbed himself but survived and has been admitted to the Mallya Hospital in Bangalore.
"On Wednesday, Rajappa pleaded with Naveena to marry him, and she refused. They had a heated argument and Rajappa threatened that he would kill her and then commit suicide. After we sent Naveena home that day, we tried to counsel him to get a hold on himself," said a friend of Rajappa.
Later that day, Rajappa reportedly had a drink at a bar at Wilson Garden near Lalbagh. He is believed to have also purchased a bottle of rum from the bar.
"I saw the bottle on the spot, where the murder was committed. I also detected a faint poison-like smell in the air," explained Bharathi, an oath commissioner in the court, who was closely associated with Naveena.
"Rajappa also vomited in the toilet, where he stabbed himself. I also heard some policemen say that it was likely that Rajappa had consumed poison."
Bharathi added that she was a few metres away, when Rajappa attacked Naveena yesterday.
On Wednesday, Rajappa had pleaded with Naveena to marry him, and she refused. In the frenzy of his proposal being rejected, he stabbed her to death in the high court premises yesterday.
"I can't be sure but Rajappa appeared to be threatening Naveena that he would drink whatever he had in the bottle that he held in his hand," Bharathi said.
The doctors at Mallya Hospital informed MiD DAY that they had given Rajappa a stomach wash to cleanse his system of any poison that he may have consumed. The doctors, however, refused to confirm if Rajappa had consumed poison.
"We are not authorised to speak. We handed over Rajappa's viscera to the police and it is up to them to comment on the subject," said Commodore Indu Wadhwani, the president of Mallya Hospital.
According to Dr Bhaskar Pai, who conducted a surgery on him, Rajappa's condition is stable. "He is in the surgical ICU. They next 48 hours are critical for his survival," explained Pai.
Rajappa and Naveena studied in a law college in Kolar, an hour's drive from Bangalore. Rajappa is understood to have developed feelings for Naveena.
It is, however, not clear if Naveena reciprocated his interest. She, however, is believed to have made it clear to him that he could not marry him.
"For now, we think it is a tragic love story that ended in a murder and attempt to suicide," said Shankar Mahadeva Bidri, city police commissioner.
"He kept proposing to her and got upset when he did not respond positively."