Wife Kills Priest Over Extramarital Affair In Karnataka, Four Held
During interrogation, the priest's wife told police that her husband was harassing her after learning about her extramarital affair.
Published : March 11, 2026 at 7:38 PM IST
Mandya: Police have arrested four persons, including the deceased's wife and her paramour, for allegedly killing a priest in Karnataka's Mandya district on Wednesday. Police said the priest's wife had an illicit relationship with a tipper lorry driver from the same village.
The deceased identified as Siddalingappa, a resident of Maralagala village in Srirangapatna taluk, worked as a priest. The accused, Siddalingappa's wife Shalini (32), her lover Harish (33), Santosh Kumar (29) and Ganesh B.R. bin Ramasiddu (29) are currently being interrogated.
The incident surfaced on March 6, when Siddalingappa did not return home at night after he left for the temple. His phone was switched off and his relatives found his slippers from near the canal while a Rudraksha mala and crystal beads that he wore were found some distance away. His bike was found submerged in the canal. However, despite searching all night, Siddalingappa was not found. Later, his body was found stuck in the canal's sluice gate.
"The body was wearing only an underwear. Since injury marks were found on the face and head, a case was registered at the Srirangapatna Rural Police Station on the complaint of the deceased's brother Balasunder, saying some unknown person had beaten him to death. After this, investigations were initiated into the case," an official said.
Superintendent of Police Shobharani VJ formed a team led by ASP C.E. Thimmaiah, S.E. Gangadharaswamy and comprising inspectors Anand Kumar H, Sharath H.P, Lokesh, Hafeez Pasha, Chandrashekhar, Sridhar, Ravikiran and Lokesh.
The SP said, "Siddalingappa had married his own sister's daughter 14 years ago. The couple had two children, and the priest's wife was having an extramarital affair with Harish, a tipper lorry driver from the same village. Siddalingappa learnt about this a year and a half ago and since then, Siddalingappa was harassing his wife following which, Shalini told Harish to eliminate her husband."
"During interrogation it was revealed that Harish planned the murder with his friends Ganesh and Santosh Kumar. As Siddalingappa was on fast on March 6 due to the puja, the accused decided to kill him on that day. Shalini had sent a message to her lover about Siddalingappa leaving for work and the time he would return. As planned, the accused cornered Siddalingappa in a deserted place near the canal and beat him to death with sticks. They had made it look like an accident to cover up the matter," the SP said.
After this, they dumped the body and his bike into the water from the upper road. His wife also participated in the last rites of the deceased so that nobody would suspect her, police said.
"Police arrested the deceased's wife, her lover and his two friends," SP added.
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