Davanagere, 19 July

Two brothers in Karnataka's Davangere district exhumed their mother's body, buried two-and-a-half months earlier, and transported it on a motorcycle toward the district hospital, alleging police were suppressing a murder case.

The deceased, Eeramma, 58, of Harihar taluk, died under suspicious circumstances on 29 April. Her son Manjunath alleged neighbours were responsible, leading to an Unnatural Death Report case against 11 people at Malebennur Police Station. After a post-mortem at Malebennur Hospital, she was buried in the village.

Brothers Manjunath, 26, and Venkatesh, 28, alleged the police were suppressing the case and had no faith in the initial post-mortem. After repeated appeals yielded no results, they dug up the grave late Saturday night, wrapped the body in a bedsheet, and headed to Davangere District Hospital on a motorcycle. The bike met with an accident, where police discovered the body and shifted it to the hospital mortuary.

SP Shekhar H. Tekkannavar told Salar News the brothers had a property dispute with their neighbours, and though advised to wait for the official report, they acted while allegedly under the influence of alcohol. 

He said arrests could only follow evidence from the investigation, adding that the brothers are now demanding a fresh post-mortem by senior medical experts, and police are continuing their probe.