When Mahadevapura police station Head Constable Shivanand K Poojari tried to console the sobbing young man at the hospital that April morning in 2021, breaking every Covid protocol to offer comfort, he noticed something unusual: a tattoo reading ‘Roopa’ on the young man’s hand. Little did he know that this single word, etched permanently on skin, would become the thread that would lead to nailing him as his wife’s killer.As Covid-19 cases surged across the country, including Bengaluru, the government imposed a curfew to restrict public movement. The city’s policing efforts were also significantly impacted, with many police personnel falling ill and some tragically passing away.Then, Inspector H Hariyappa and Head Constable Shivanand K Poojari of the Mahadevapura police station received information from a hospital on April 17, 2021, about a woman’s suicide. At the hospital, they found Vinay Kumar, 33, an electrical engineer, crying inconsolably. Despite the physical distancing rules at that point, Poojari went up to him and tried to console him.Kumar told the police that they got married in 2018 and were living happily, but Ashwini was unable to give birth to a child despite several doctor consultations. Kumar said that she was suffering from depression, and by April 17 morning, when he woke up, he saw her dead. He said the neighbours helped to shift her to the hospital after they heard him screaming.By the time the police collected the details, Ashwini’s family members turned up and pointed their suspicion towards Kumar, stating that he was having an affair with another woman, which could be a possible reason. Then, the doctors who examined Ashwini’s body opined that she might not have died by suicide, but someone might have strangled her.Hariyappa recalled that Kumar was the first eyewitness to the death. “Generally, in these kinds of cases, the husband is also one of the suspects, and we took him into custody. It did not take too long for us to make him confess to the murder, but without any eyewitnesses, we needed to corroborate evidence,” he said.Husband’s confessionDuring the probe, Kumar confessed that he killed her using a dupatta. “On April 16, 2021, Kimar bought a bottle of Tuborg beer for Rs 145 and a strip of Disulfiram 250 mg, a drug given to treat alcohol addiction, for Rs 32. He mixed it with the beer, assuming she would die if she took it. After having it, Ashwini and Kumar had a chicken meal and went to sleep around 11 pm. By 5.50 am, Vinay woke and saw that his wife was still breathing. He then took out a dupatta and strangulated her.”Story continues below this ad“Around 7 am, he called Ashwini’s parents and stated that she was unconscious and took her to Lakshmi hospital, claiming that she had ended her life. Later, his entire plot got exposed,” Hariyappa said.Love marriage, fallout and extra-marital affairAshwini was pursuing her engineering degree at a private college in Chikkamagaluru. One of her classmates was Kumar’s sister, who introduced Kumar to Ashwini around 2016. Their relationship blossomed into love, and on May 27, 2018, Kumar and Ashwini got married in the presence of their families.After marriage, Ashwini became a homemaker. Although everything was going well in the family, their only concern was Ashwini’s infertility issues, said the police.One day, Kumar went to a bank in Jeevan Bhima Nagar to apply for a loan and met Roopa, a relationship manager. They exchanged contact numbers and, within six months, had shared details about their personal lives. Roopa, a divorced woman, was living with her son, said the police.Story continues below this ad“Kumar, who had shared his story, proposed to marry Roopa. However, she refused, stating that she would consider marriage only if he divorced his wife. Despite this, Kumar repeatedly tried to convince Roopa, giving her false hope and even sending her a fake divorce petition. To verify the situation, Roopa once called Ashwini, and the lies Kumar had been spreading were exposed. It was at that point that Kumar decided he needed to eliminate Ashwini,” Hariyappa said.Another crucial piece of evidence Kumar himself carried was a tattoo that read ‘Roopa’. Poojari recalled, “I saw the tattoo ‘Roopa’ on his hand and initially thought it could be his sister’s or mother’s name, but when he told me it was his girlfriend’s name, it stuck in my mind.”The police booked Kumar under sections 498(a) (dowry harassment by husband or relatives), 302 (murder), 420 (cheating) and 328 (causing hurt by means of poison) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).Collecting evidence and securing convictionWhile the police had the killer in hand, there was no eyewitness to the incident. The police then collected the sample from the beer bottle and obtained the bill from the drug store.Story continues below this ad“Kumar had torn the bill paper, and we found an empty Disulfiram 250 mg strip. I went to the liquor store where Kumar bought liquor, then to the drugstore. We found he had paid via a digital wallet, and there was CCTV footage. It helped to build a case against Kumar,” said Poojari.The police filed a chargesheet, and during the trial, the prosecution also named the drug store and bar workers as witnesses. Sathyavathi H R, the public prosecutor, said, “As there was no eyewitness, I needed to fight the case entirely on circumstantial evidence and medical evidence. On top of that, the tattoo on Kumar, which read ‘Roopa,’ became supporting evidence. Besides the workers, Roopa was also made a witness in the case who provided information about the relationship, which helped to nail Kumar,” she said.On December 17, 2025, the 72nd additional city civil and sessions court convicted Kumar with life imprisonment for the crimes. Hariyappa, who retired in 2025 after 32 years of service, was unaware of the conviction until The Indian Express spoke to him.“Oh! Yes, I remember the case, and I was cross-examined for three days. It was during Covid, and it was challenging as social distancing and many police personnel were often exposed to infected patients. I am happy that Ashwini’s family got justice,” he said.