Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has suspended three police officers, including an inspector, and a sub-inspector, in connection with the Bengaluru infant murder case, Home Minister Priyank Kharge said on Friday.
Three months after the mysterious death of six-year-old Vennila in Bengaluru’s Kadugodi area, shocking details had emerged during the police investigation, leading to the registration of a murder case against the child’s mother and her alleged live-in partner.
“I have discussed the Vennila murder case with police officials. The investigating officers have committed a few lapses. After the post-mortem report, the case should have been investigated, considering it a case of unnatural death. The police sub-inspector (PSI) had registered a case of unnatural death and kept the case file with him. We have suspended the police Inspector, PSI, and a writer. Accused numbers one and two are arrested, and the investigation of the case is carried out,” Kharge said.
“We don’t know why the investigation of the case is delayed,” he added.
According to police, Vennila was allegedly murdered by her mother, Priyanka P., and her lover, Mohan J. Mahaningappa, who reportedly believed the child was coming in the way of their relationship and privacy.
The incident was initially reported on March 25 at a villa in Seegehalli under the limits of the Kadugodi police station. At the time, an unnatural death case was registered, and an investigation was launched. However, suspicions raised by the child’s father, Praveen Basappa, prompted a deeper probe into the circumstances surrounding her death.
Basappa had suspected foul play and negligence by the police. The police, who had taken Mahaningappa into custody, arrested Priyanka, who was absconding after the registration of the FIR, in Sakaleshpura in Madikeri district on Thursday. A court sent her to five days’ custody.
Police investigations have revealed that Mahaningappa allegedly assaulted Vennila after she asked for a different flavour of ice cream. He is accused of punching the child in the abdomen with a closed fist. Unable to bear the pain, the child began crying loudly. Investigators allege that he then strangled her to death.
Police further claimed that after the murder, Priyanka and Mahaningappa spent nearly 12 hours with the child’s body and drove around the city in their car before reporting the death.
According to the complaint filed by Basappa, he and Priyanka were married in 2007 and have two daughters. He alleged that Priyanka rekindled a relationship with her college friend Mahaningappa in late 2025, and later began living with him in Bengaluru after seeking a divorce.
While their elder daughter continued to stay with him in Davanagere, Vennila was living with Priyanka. Police sources said Mahaningappa had also left his wife and children for Priyanka, and had purchased the villa where Priyanka and Vennila were residing.
Investigators believe Vennila was frequently subjected to abuse, as Mahaningappa reportedly considered her an obstacle to his relationship with Priyanka. Both accused are alleged to have mistreated the child on multiple occasions.
Basappa stated in his complaint that he received information about Vennila’s death from Priyanka’s brother on March 25. When he sought details about the incident, Priyanka allegedly gave contradictory explanations. On one occasion, she claimed the child had eaten biryani the previous night. On another, she said Vennila had been given ice cream and was later left sleeping inside an air-conditioned car while she and Mohan attended a birthday celebration.
Suspicious of the varying accounts, he obtained the post-mortem report and shared it with a relative, a paediatric specialist based in the United Kingdom. The doctor reportedly expressed concerns about the circumstances of the death, prompting Basappa to approach the police with allegations that his daughter may have been assaulted and suffocated.
In his complaint, Basappa further alleged that Priyanka and Mahaningappa planned to start a new life together and were exploring options to have a child through IVF. He claimed that Vennila had become an obstacle to their plans and accused the pair of murdering her and attempting to destroy evidence.
Following the complaint and subsequent investigation, the police registered a murder case against Priyanka and Mahaningappa. Further investigation is in progress.
