A 23-year-old man was strangled to death allegedly by his sister and brother-in-law to "protect family's honour" after she discovered that he was HIV positive, police said on Monday.
The victim, a resident of a village in Holalkere taluk of this district, suffered an accident recently. He was admitted to a hospital and upon a blood check-up, the doctors found he was HIV positive, they added.
The woman is under arrest, police added, while efforts are on to arrest her husband, who is still on the run.
Under questioning, the woman informed police that on July 25 she and her husband killed her brother by strangulation using her veil after she discovered that he was HIV positive, a senior police officer said.
She was afraid that if people were made aware that her brother was HIV positive, her family would be embarrassed and might be boycotted by relatives and villagers. She was also concerned that the infection would spread to their parents as well, who already had BP and sugar-related health problems, he said.
The woman also complained that her brother was deeply in debt, he added.
As per police, when the victim was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Davangere for accident related complications and undergoing routine blood tests prior to surgery, doctors found him to be HIV positive and broke the news to his sister. Then the hospital authorities instructed them to have him treated at another hospital.
Later, she, along with her husband, took him on the pretext of getting her brother treated at a hospital in Bengaluru. She allegedly strangled her brother to death, with the help of her husband and brought his body back, claiming that he died on the way to Bengaluru, the police officer said.
However, seeing unusual marks on his neck while cremating him, the villagers informed his relatives and she confessed her guilt to her father, he added.
Subsequently, his father filed a complaint at Holalkere police station and a case of murder was lodged, police added.
