Teen found murdered in deserted house in Bengaluru, absconding fiancé held in Rajasthan

BENGALURU: Nearly a week after a 16-year-old girl was found murdered in a deserted house in DJ Halli, police have arrested her 25-year-old fiance in Rajasthan's Ajmer, marking a key breakthrough in the case.

The accused, Syed Sabeel, a resident of Kushalnagar in KG Halli, had been on the run since the incident. He was tracked down and arrested in Ajmer, and police are now initiating procedures to bring him back to Bengaluru on a transit warrant for further investigation.

The victim, Joya Fathima from Kolar district, was found with her throat slit inside a dilapidated house reportedly belonging to Sabeel's family on March 17. The house, located in DJ Halli, was known to be a meeting spot for the couple.

Fathima frequently visited her aunt, Vajeeda Begum, in DJ Halli. During these visits, she had developed a relationship with Sabeel, who assists his father in running an onion shop. Following this, both families arranged their engagement in June last year.

However, tensions are said to have emerged after Fathima continued to meet Sabeel discreetly. On the morning of March 17, Fathima went missing from her aunt's house. Her phone, left behind, immediately raised concern among family members. Attempts to contact Sabeel also failed. Acting on a tip-off from Sabeel's mother, Vajeeda went to the abandoned house where the couple would meet. Inside, she found Fathima lying in a pool of blood with a deep cut injury to her throat.

Preliminary checks showed that the last call from Fathima's phone had been made to Sabeel. An officer said the accused is yet to be interrogated to establish the motive. "Once he is brought to the city, he will taken into police custody and questioned in detail."