Bengaluru: A 56-year-old man was allegedly murdered by his wife and her friend at Sheshadripuram on Friday, September 21, after he began to torture her while in an inebriated state.

The deceased has been identified as Santhosh Shetty, a native of Kundapur and owner of the ‘Mahalaxmi Self Service’ hotel in the Gandhinagar area. He and his wife, Annapoorneshwari Shetty had moved to Bengaluru several years back.

In the case, police have named Annapoorneshwari Shetty (44), Santhosh’s wife and her friend Prakash Shetty (24) as the main accused.

It is learnt that immediately after being alerted about the murder, the police rushed to the spot and questioned Annapoorneshwari (44), Santhosh’s wife, about the incident. Initially, she told police that her husband used to get drunk and torture her physically and mentally. On Thursday night and Friday morning, her husband once again began tormenting her and in order to stop him, she set off the pepper spray into his eyes and hit his head with a stick, killing him, she informed.

During the course of the investigation, the police learnt that the wife’s friend, Prakash was at the couple’s residence on Thursday night. When asked about it, Annapoorneshwari changed her story and told police that Prakash was at her home when her husband arrived and that they both attacked him. She then said that although Prakash took the injured Santhosh to the hospital, he could not save him.

As the accused have been narrating different versions of the incident, nothing concrete can be said about the murder until clear evidence is found, said the central division officials.