Hyderabad, September 20: A B.Tech final-year student was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat by her friend, her former senior in college, at Vanasthalipuram on Sunday night.
Police speculated that it was a case of love gone unrequited.
The assailant, Sekhar, delivered multiple blows to the victim’s head with a baseball bat in his flat at Hill Colony.
After killing the girl, Divya, the accused sent SMSes to his friends about the incident, stating that he was going to end his life, police said. He also sent an SMS to another young man to whom Divya had apparently transferred her affections, telling him that he had killed his lover.
Divya (20) was a fourth-year student of computer science at Vignan Engineering College near Deshmukhi village on the outskirts of the city. Divya was from Narsaraopet in Guntur district. Her father had recently moved to Kolkata to take up a job with Mahindra & Mahindra, leaving her in the care of her uncle. Divya was to appear for GRE next month and had plans to study abroad.
The assailant Sekhar Goud is a native of Choutuppal in Nalgonda district. His father, Venkatesham Goud, a cable television contractor, is presently settled in Mumbai. Venkatesham Goud’s family reportedly moved to Hyderabad 10 years ago after receiving some threats from naxalites in his native village.
Sekhar, who completed B Tech (ECE ) last year, was one year senior to Divya.
According to police, Sekhar called Divya to his duplex flat at Hill Colony in Vanasthalipuram late Sunday evening. The girl, who lived with her uncle at Habsiguda, told her relatives that she was going to meet a friend and left home.
Divya was found dead in the flat with multiple injuries caused by repeated blows with a baseball bat. “Divya was hit on her head repeatedly and she had nearly four injuries on the head,’’ Vanasthalipuram assistant commissioner of police B Srinivas Reddy said.
Police did not rule out the possibility of Sekhar trying to sexually assault Divya.
“We suspect there might have been an attempted sexual assault. Except for the two of them no one was present in the house,’’ Srinivas Reddy said.
Sekhar lives alone in the top floor of the house while two of his sisters reside in the other portions. They were not present in the house when the murder took place.
Police found hundreds of liquor bottles in the flat. The baseball bat with which Divya was attacked lay near the body. Divya’s body was found lying on the ground beside the bed.
“Sekhar used to carry cartons of beer bottles to the house frequently though we never saw any of his friends visiting the house. For the past few months, he had been behaving in a rash manner. He used to drive the vehicle in a rash manner in the narrow lanes,’’ Sashi, a local resident said.
The gruesome murder came to light only after Sekhar sent SMSes to some of his friends stating that he had killed Divya in his house and that he would also commit suicide. Police officials said Sekhar also sent an SMS to another student of Vignan Engineering College, Pradeep, with whom Divya had been moving closely after Sekhar left campus.
“We don’t know what exactly the relationship between Divya and Pradeep was,’’ Srinivas Reddy said. Police suspect that Sekhar might have become jealous of their relationship.
Sekhar’s whereabouts were not known and police are questioning Pradeep. Sekhar’s peers at college said he had been having behavioural problems in recent months. Diran, a classmate of Divya, said Sekhar was wont to harass girls on campus. He had had an indifferent academic record, and was detained in class.
–Agencies