Woman found dead at Nandi Hills homestay; male friend hospitalised

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Updated - June 29, 2026 08:14 pm IST - Bengaluru A 24-year-old woman was found dead under suspicious circumstances at a homestay near Nandi Hills in Chickballapur district on Monday, while her male friend was found unconscious and has been admitted to the hospital. The police are investigating whether the case is one of murder or suicide. The deceased has been identified as Sai Surabhi, a Bengaluru resident. Her male friend, Sanjeeth Ali, from Kozhikode, Kerala, is undergoing treatment after a suspected attempt to end his life. Surabhi was working as a physiotherapist at a hospital. According to the police, the couple checked into a homestay near Muddenahalli on Saturday. When they failed to check out on Monday and did not respond after the scheduled checkout time, the caretaker opened the room and found Surabhi dead. Sanjeeth Ali was also found unconscious inside the room. The police have recovered some tablets from the room, raising suspicion that poison may have been consumed. A diary containing handwritten notes was also seized and is being examined as part of the investigation. Meanwhile, family members of Surabhi have alleged that she was murdered by Sanjeeth Ali. Surabhi’s mother, Geetha, speaking to media persons, claimed that he had been harassing Surabhi despite the earlier police complaints against him and alleged that he had introduced her daughter to drugs and had tortured her. According to the mother, Surabhi had undergone treatment and had recovered. Ms. Geetha further said that a missing persons complaint, accusing Sanjeeth Ali, had been filed for Surabhi at Kumaraswamy Layout and Banashankari Police Stations, following which the police had reunited Surabhi with her family. She also alleged that Sanjeeth continued to pursue her daughter despite the complaints. “He has murdered her as she started distancing herself from him. We had even sought an alliance for Surabhi. He has killed her to take revenge,” Surabhi’s uncle Shankar Narayan told media persons on Monday. Kushal Chowksey, SP, Chickballapur, said the exact cause of Surabhi’s death is yet to be determined. “At first glance, the woman was found hanging, but the rope had been cut. We are investigating whether this is a case of murder or suicide. Sanjeeth Ali is unconscious, and more clarity will emerge once he regains consciousness and is questioned,” he said. The probe is continuing from all angles, and the Nandi Giridhama police are awaiting forensic and postmortem reports before reaching any conclusions. They are also waiting for Sanjeeth Ali to recover before questioning him to ascertain the sequence of events. (If you are in distress or having suicidal tendencies, please reach out to these helplines: TeleMANAS at 1-8008914416/ 14416, NIMHANS at 08026685948, 9480829670 or SAHAI at 080 25497777, +91-9886444075) Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Woman found dead at Nandi Hills homestay; male friend hospitalised

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Woman found dead at Nandi Hills homestay; male friend hospitalised

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