Father Kills Daughter Over Marriage Choice, Then Fakes Own Disappearance

Nearly a month after a 17-year-old girl and her father went missing a week apart, Tumakuru police have solved the case.

BENGALURU: Nearly a month after a 17-year-old girl and her father went missing a week apart, Tumakuru police have solved the case. The 48-year-old man killed his daughter over her choice of groom, and went underground to stay off police radar. Timmarayappa is a farmer from Nimbemaradahalli of Sira taluk. His daughter T Meghana fell in love with an electrician, a close relative of her mother Nirmala. While Nirmala supported the alliance, Timmarayappa was against it. On April 16, Timmarayappa asked Meghana to come to their family farm. An argument broke out about her friendship. In a fit of rage, he strangled the girl.

Fearing body would float up, father retrieves and buries girl

When the girl fell unconscious, Timmarayappa threw her into a farm well. In the evening, fearing the body would float up, he returned to the well, fished Meghana’s body out, carried it under the cover of darkness to a nearby dry lakebed, and buried her in a shallow grave. The following day, Nirmala and Timmarayappa filed a missing person’s report. One week later, on April 23, Timmarayappa went missing with his bike and some cash from home. Nirmala visited the police station a second time with a similar complaint. Police launched a manhunt, but couldn’t make headway as mobile phones of both Meghana and Timmarayappa were switched off from the dates they were reported missing. The case grew cold within days. A special police team began visiting neighbouring villages for clues on the missing duo. The breakthrough came on the night of May 15. Police received a tip-off that Timmarayappa had been spotted visiting a friend in a village 3km from his home. According to the friend, Timmarayappa was roaming around other taluks on his motorbike and sleeping in temples and bus stands just to escape police attention. He had purchased a sim card and a used mobile set at a shop in Kadabagere. The friend claimed Timmarayappa was also seeking advice on how to secure “anticipatory bail in a murder case”. The friend provided Timmarayappa’s new mobile number to police. Within minutes, it was found that the “missing” father was in his own village. On Saturday, police picked up Timmarayappa. Initially, he played the part of agrieving father, pleading total innocence. But under sustained interrogation, he confessed to the murder.

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