'We were shocked to hear that': Only daughter of ex-Isro employee who killed wife refuses to fly from US for funeral, cites personal reasons

BENGALURU: The horrifying incident at a senior living community, where a 70-year-old man killed his wife fearing there would be no one to take care of her after his death, took another sorrowful turn with the victim's only daughter refusing to fly down from New Jersey, US, citing personal reasons.

Now that the suspect, Nageshwar Rao, has been arrested, cops, left with no alternative, approached a member of his extended family, who completed the legal formalities and cremated the victim, 63-year-old Sandhya Shri.


On Feb 18 morning, Sandhya was allegedly killed by Rao inside their flat at Virtuoso Apartments, a senior living community at Bommenahalli in Avalahalli police jurisdiction in the Whitefield division. The couple had been staying there since 2022. When police questioned, Rao, who was sitting on the sofa while his wife's body lay in the kitchen, said: "Yes, I killed her. Who would have looked after her after my death? I will hardly live another 2-3 years. What after my death? We don't have close relatives."

A senior IPS officer said they made futile attempts to convince the daughter to come to Bengaluru and complete the formalities.

"On the day of the incident, we contacted her and passed the shocking message. Initially, she told us that she would fly down, and we decided to hold the autopsy and other legal work after her arrival. However, later, she refused, saying it was not possible for her. We were shocked to hear that," he said.

"We tried to convince her, stating she is the only child of the couple. The mother is dead and the father will be walking into prison. Her presence was most needed for legal as well as emotional purposes. We did not carry out the autopsy, thinking she would come down. On learning that she refused, we contacted Vijay Babu, brother-in-law of Nageshwar Rao and a resident of JB Nagar; and he cooperated with us and completed all the legal formalities. Also, he cremated Sandhya Shri according to their tradition," he said.