'Jilted' lawyer stabs woman in Karnataka HC

BANGALORE: A bloody denouement was played out at the Karnataka High Court on Thursday afternoon when a love-crazed advocate whipped out a knife and stabbed a woman colleague to death in a semi-deserted corridor. He then attempted suicide in the court's washroom.

Eyewitnesses said the gory act took place around 2pm when S L Rajappa (27), an advocate, stopped J S Naveena (24) between court number three and four. They seemed to have a short, hissy conversation after which Rajappa pulled out a knife and stabbed her in the chest, slashed her head and slit her throat. A heavily bleeding Naveena collapsed right there even as Rajappa tried to stab himself.

Azeemuddin, an advocate on his way to the washroom, witnessed the macabre drama. "It was lunch hour. When I went to the washroom, I saw the two speaking with each other near court hall 4. Then, as I came out, I saw the girl fall down with blood gushing out of her wounds. The next moment I saw that senior counsel Subrahmanya Jois was trying to give her water," Azeemuddin said.

He says he had barely recovered from the sight when he turned to see Rajappa trying to stab himself. "I tried to stop him, but he pointed the dagger towards me menacingly. I shouted that I would call the police. He ran to the washroom and locked himself in. The police arrived and broke open the door. He was inside with injuries to his chest with a bottle of poison next to him," Azeemuddin added.

Senior advocate Jois recalled: "It was probably 1.52pm when I saw a man and a woman (the young advocates) in the court corridor. Suddenly, I heard the woman scream. Blood gushed out of her wounds, and her voice was hoarse," he said.

"I yelled for the police, and tried to get the man who was running away. He ran towards the washroom, knife in hand. I locked it from outside as he bolted himself in. I rushed back to the spot where the girl had collapsed and gave her some water, but she couldn't drink. There was no police at the spot because it was lunch hour," Jois added.

The police have recovered a note from Rajappa's pen drive, which runs into more than two pages. The writing suggests that he was obsessed with Naveena. Police suspect that Rajappa, otherwise a soft-spoken man, wanted Naveena to live the way he wanted her to, but Naveena was focussed on her career. She spoke little and was a workaholic.

There are conflicting versions of the background to the bizarre murder. Some said Rajappa and Naveena were in love but, but Naveena got engaged to another man. Naveena's family rejects this, saying she wasn't engaged.

Rajappa was Naveena's senior in a college in Kolar; they both belong to that district. While Naveena was from Jambapura, Rajappa is from Bagepalli. Both worked under different senior advocates in Bangalore.