‘Stood in the way’: Mother, boyfriend kill 6-year-old girl in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: In a chilling turn of events, the Kadugodi police have launched a murder investigation into the mysterious death of a six-year-old girl, three months after she was reported dead under highly suspicious circumstances.

The girl's mother, P Priyanka—a practicing advocate—and her alleged boyfriend, GM Mohan, a prominent real estate developer, are now facing murder charges.

Mohan has been taken into seven-day-police custody while cops are looking for Priyanka, who is incommunicado.

The tragic saga unravelled through a formal police complaint lodged by the victim's father, Praveen Basappa, who runs the Cloud9 International School in Davanagere.

According to Praveen, his 17-year marriage to Priyanka began fracturing in late 2025 when she travelled to Bengaluru to handle a civil court dispute involving 25 acres of ancestral land. During this trip, Priyanka reconnected with her college mate and former lover, GM Mohan, who claimed to manage assets worth Rs 1,000 crore.

Praveen alleges that Priyanka’s lifestyle transformed overnight. By December 2025, she had allegedly married Mohan secretly in Kashi and flew to Dubai for a lavish New Year celebration. Upon her return in January, Praveen claims he was coerced into signing divorce papers under the threat of losing access to his two daughters.

Following the split, the couple's elder daughter remained with Praveen, while six-year-old Vennela stayed with Priyanka and Mohan in a rented villa in Seegehalli.

The timeline of the suspected crime dates back to the night of March 24, which was Priyanka's birthday. Priyanka initially claimed that she had fed Vennela biryani and ice cream. She then allegedly left the six-year-old sleeping inside a parked car with the air conditioning running while she went out to a coffee shop with Mohan.

Priyanka told the family that she carried the sleeping child to bed later that night. The next morning, March 25, Vennela failed to wake up. She was rushed to Vaidehi Hospital in Whitefield, where doctors declared her brought dead.

Autopsy Raises Murder Suspicions
The case took a dramatic turn after Praveen obtained the official autopsy report on April 4. Seeking clarity, he shared the findings with his elder sister, Dr. Poornima, a practicing child specialist in England.

Dr. Poornima immediately flagged severe discrepancies in the medical report, strongly suspecting foul play. Armed with expert medical doubts, Praveen approached the Kadugodi police, accusing Priyanka and Mohan of cold-bloodedly murdering the child because she "stood in the way" of their new lives.

The police have officially altered the case to a homicide investigation, focusing heavily on whether the young girl was intentionally suffocated or poisoned before being placed in the vehicle. Further interrogations of both accused are currently underway.

Deputy commissioner of police-Whitefield-Saidulu Adavat told TOI that Mohan had availed anticipatory bail soon after Vennela’s death.

“But we did not have the full autopsy report in hand then. However, doctors had suspected that Vennela had died of asphyxiation. Also, there were no traces of poison in the blood. Then, we had registered a case of unnatural death report and sent the visera samples to forenisc science laboratory. We are yet to get the full reports from the FSL, which are due soon,” Adavat said adding that “based on the circumstantial and medical evidences, we approached the court and got the anticipatory bail of Mohan cancelled on Friday,” he said.

Timeline
2007 February 22: Praveen and Priyanka get married. They later have two daughters.

2025 November: Priyanka moves to Bengaluru to attend court regarding a 25-acre land dispute. She reconnects with her college mate and former lover, GM Mohan, through a developer.

December 27: Priyanka travels to Kashi alone.

December End: Priyanka travels to Dubai to celebrate the New Year. Her brother, Raghavendra, later reveals that Mohan accompanied her and gifted her an iPhone and gold ornaments.

2026 January (Early): Priyanka returns from Dubai. Praveen confronts her. She admits to marrying Mohan in Kashi and spending their honeymoon there.

January 13: Priyanka forces Praveen to sign divorce papers by threatening to take their daughters away. Following this, the elder daughter stays with Praveen, and the younger daughter, Vennela, stays with Priyanka and Mohan in a rented villa in Seegehalli, Kadugodi.

March 24 (Night): Priyanka feeds Vennela biryani and ice cream. Mohan takes Priyanka to a coffee shop to celebrate her birthday. Priyanka leaves Vennela asleep inside the car with the AC turned on. Upon returning, Priyanka carries the sleeping child to the bedroom.

March 25 (Morning): Vennela does not wake up. Priyanka and Mohan shift her to Vydehi Hospital in Whitefield, where doctors declare her brought dead.

Later that day: Raghavendra alerts Praveen, who rushes to the hospital mortuary and finds Vennela's body. Priyanka explains her version of the car AC incident to him.

April 4: Praveen collects Vennela’s autopsy report from the police and shares it with his sister, Dr. Poornima (a child specialist in England). Dr. Poornima expresses strong suspicion regarding the cause of death and advises Praveen to file a police case.

June 4: Praveen lodges a formal police complaint with the Kadugodi police, accusing Priyanka and Mohan of murdering Vennela. Mohan arrested, Priyanka elusive.