Caregiver, Two Accomplices Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Murder of Elderly Woman in Bantwal Robbery Case
Bantwal: The Second Additional District and Sessions Court in Mangaluru sentenced three persons to life imprisonment for the murder of a 73-year-old woman during a robbery in Bantwal.
The victim, Benedict Carlo (73), a resident of Ammunje in Bantwal, was being cared for by the prime accused, Elma Preschit Barreto (23) of Amtady, Bantwal. According to the prosecution, Elma conspired to rob the elderly woman’s gold ornaments. She initially attempted to kill Benedict by mixing poison into her food with the assistance of her friend, Satish Nayak (28) of Narikombu, Bantwal. When that attempt failed, she, along with another accomplice, Charan Kumar (31), also of Narikombu, allegedly smothered the victim to death on the night of January 25, 2021.
After committing the murder, the accused allegedly robbed 61.070 grams of gold ornaments, then valued at approximately Rs 3 lakh, and attempted to destroy evidence.
Based on the incident, a case was registered at the Bantwal Rural Police Station in Crime No. 22/2021 under Sections 302 (murder), 392 (robbery), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), read with Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
The accused were apprehended by the then Bantwal Rural Police Sub-Inspector Prasanna M.S. The investigation was conducted by the then Bantwal Circle Police Inspector T.D. Nagaraj, who collected the necessary evidence and filed the charge sheet against all three accused before the court.
After a full trial, Second Additional District and Sessions Judge Jagadish V.N., on July 28, 2026, found all three accused guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
The prosecution was effectively represented before the court by Public Prosecutor Jyothi Pramod Nayak.
