Bengaluru Sunitha murder: Malayali Deepak Krishnan taken into custody from Kanyakumari

THRISSUR: Deepak Krishnan, the accused in the brutal murder of Vadanappally native Sunitha, was arrested from Kanyakumari on Thursday. Deepak, a Malayali, was running a shelter home for stray dogs in Bengaluru.

Sunitha had come to work at the shelter home with two other young women. Initial investigations revealed that Deepak Krishnan brutally beat and killed her when she opposed his sexual advances. Sunitha was the whistleblower who brought out the special VIP treatment Sherin, an accused in the controversial Karanavar murder case, was getting in prison. Both of them had shared the same cell while in prison. After ending her jail term, Sunitha shifted to Bengaluru with high hopes of starting a new life and in search of a livelihood.

Sunitha, who was brutally beaten, was first admitted to a hospital in Bengaluru. Later, her relatives came to know about the incident and shifted her to a hospital in Thrissur. She died while undergoing treatment on a ventilator. Deepak Krishnan assaulted her on May 3. According to eyewitness accounts, the accused grabbed Sunitha's head and repeatedly hit her against the wall and cupboard, and stomped her in the chest when she collapsed to the ground. It is also reported that the accused threatened other women present at the spot by brandishing a knife.

Sunitha is a convicted murderer. She was an inmate of Sherin in Attakkulangara Jail. It was in 2025 that Sunitha revealed the VIP treatment Sherin was receiving inside the jail. Sunitha had said that Sherin managed to obtain additional paroles through high-ranking connections and was even provided with makeup equipment and a phone inside the prison. Although Sunitha filed a complaint against Sherin, the police did not take her seriously.