Mangaluru: The Supreme Court asked the Karnataka government to respond to a bail plea moved by a woman, who was accused of killing her businessman-husband Bhaskar Shetty in Udupi district in 2016 and burning his body in a ‘homa kunda’ with the help of a priest.

A bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao issued notice to the state government after senior advocate Basava Prabhu Patil, appearing for petitioner Rajeswari Shetty, contended that 52-year-old woman was in jail for more than one-and-half years and the investigation has been complete with the filing of supplementary chargesheet. Advocate Aristotle Joseph, representing the state government, contended that the petititioner, at every stage, had tried to hinder the trial. She had even questioned the appointment of M Shantharam Shetty as special public prosecutor.

The court, however, asked the state counsel to file an affidavit to her petition and put the matter for consideration after two weeks. In her plea, Rajeshwari, among others, contended that there was no direct evidence in the matter and she has been roped in as accused only on the basis of DNA test.

According to prosecution, Rajeswari, along with her 20-year-old son, Navneet Shetty threw chilly powder into Bhasker Shetty’s eyes and assaulted him with a rod. Thereafter, the accused tied the victim’s hands and feet and poisoned him. Later, they carried the victim’s body to Niranjan Bhat’s home and burnt it by organising a ‘Yagna’. Further, to destroy the evidence, the bones and body parts of Bhaskar Shetty were thrown in a river.