Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police K. Arun and other senior police officers inspect the scene where a 20-year-old woman was hacked to death at the KSRTC bus stand in B.C. Road, Bantwal taluk, on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A 20-year-old woman was hacked to death with a machete by a man, said to be her distant relative, on Thursday evening at the KSRTC bus stand in B.C. Road in Bantwal taluk.Police identified the victim as Lavanya, a resident of Kakkepadavu village in Bantwal taluk. She was working at a private hospital in Kalladka and was on her way back home when the incident occurred. Police named the assailant as Chethan, a distant relative of the victim who reportedly had unrequited love for her.After attacking the victim, the assailant left the weapon behind and ran away from the bus stand. A video of the man attacking the woman with the machete and escaping from the area after she collapsed is widely being circulated on social media.Though passers-by immediately rushed the victim to the Bantwal taluk government hospital, she was declared to be brought dead by doctors.According to eyewitnesses, the victim had boarded a KSRTC bus bound for Kakkepadavu. She later got down from the bus, following which the accused also alighted and attacked her with a machete.Dakshina Kannada Superintendent of Police K. Arun, who visited the spot after the incident, told reporters that special teams had been formed to trace the accused. Bantwal Town police have registered a case of murder and are investigating. Published - July 16, 2026 08:34 pm IST
