Kodagu Woman Whose Return Cleared Husband of Murder Now Agrees to Live With Him

Mallige had gone missing in November 2020 from her residence in Kushalnagar, Kodagu district.

MYSURU: Mallige, the woman whose sudden reappearance in Madikeri absolved her husband of murder charges, has now expressed her willingness to return to her husband Suresha, after a week's stay at a rehabilitation centre.

After being located on April 1 in a Madikeri hotel with her partner Ganesh, Mallige was initially taken into police custody and later shifted to a rehabilitation facility. Officials said she chose to remain at the centre for nearly two weeks, in line with a city court directive. During her stay, Mysuru district police recorded her statement, which will be submitted in court on April 17.

Mallige had gone missing in November 2020 from her residence in Kushalnagar, Kodagu district. A missing person’s report was filed, but in 2021, a decapitated woman’s body was discovered in Bettadapura police limits, and Suresha was accused of murdering his wife.

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Despite Suresha and several others insisting Mallige was still alive, investigators found no solid proof to support their claims. For nearly two years, Suresha lived under a cloud of suspicion until a relative spotted Mallige with Ganesh at the Madikeri hotel.

Advocate B.S. Pandu Pujari, who is representing Suresha, told TOI that Mallige has now agreed to live with her husband again.

Background of the case:

The case dates back to 2020 when Suresh, a tribal resident of Basavanahundi in Kushalnagar taluk of Kodagu, reported that his wife, Mallige, the mother of their two children, had gone missing. He promptly filed a missing person’s complaint with the Kushalnagar rural police.

Around the same period, Bettadapura police in the neighbouring Periyapatna taluk of Mysuru district discovered a woman’s skeletal remains. Preliminary investigation suggested she had died from a head injury. Suspecting Mallige’s fidelity and presuming the body to be hers, the Bettadapura police arrested Suresh, charging him with murder.

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Although a DNA test was commissioned, using a sample from Mallige’s mother, Gowri, the police went ahead and filed the chargesheet before the test results were received. When the DNA report finally arrived, it indicated no match between the skeleton and Gowri’s blood sample—raising doubts over the identity of the deceased.

Despite mounting evidence, including testimony from Mallige’s mother and local villagers who claimed she had eloped with a man named Ganesh, the Bettadapura and Kushalnagar police stations continued to maintain that the remains belonged to Mallige and persisted in accusing Suresh.

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