Shocking: Teenager Shot Dead In A College By An Office Assistant For Rejecting His Proposal

Update: Mahesh, the helpful attendant at Pragathi PU College, was very popular among students and their parents. Parents often called Mahesh on his mobile to talk to their wards, who were banned from using cell phones. As the caretaker of of the hostel, Mahesh helped everyone.T Ramesh, Gouthami's father, is still perplexed as to why Mahesh would kill his daughter. Around 7.30pm on Tuesday, Ramesh had called Mahesh on his mobile and spoken to his only daughter, Gouthami.

"She seemed fine.When asked when she would return home, Gouthami said she would come soon after the Common Entrance Test(CET) was over," Ramesh recalled. "Nothing appeared or sounded odd. Even Mahesh sounded fine. I really don't know what happened later. I hope police will be able to give us some answers," Ramesh said, as he waited at Vydehi Hospital in Whitefield where his daughter's autopsy was under way.

Gouthami's mother Lakshmi oscillated between grief and rage and struggled to piece together some words. "Does anything matter, now that Gouthami is gone forever?" she said more than once. As the postmortem dragged on, the gravity of the tragedy sunk in and Ramesh turned impatient and furious. "There has been a lot of speculation about my daughter's death. So we want answers as quickly as possible. Why did he kill her? Where did he get the gun from? Every person directly or indirectly responsible for the death of my daughter should be brought to book, not just the killer," he said.

Here's why 18-year old Gouthami was shot dead in her college campus :

BENGALURU: An 18-year-old girl was shot dead by a 42-year-old man in a college campus near Whitefield in Southeast Bengaluru. Gauthami, a student of Pragathi School and PU College was declared dead after being taken to hospital, while her female friend Shirish, 18, who was also injured during the shooting, is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Whitfield.

Mahesh, a 42-year-old non-teaching staff of the school, the prime suspect was arrested this afternoon, after going missing for several hours.

The incident took place last night and investigations are on, police said, adding the man is suspected to be a jilted lover. Karnataka home minister K J George, city police chief MN Reddi and other senior officials rushed to the spot.

TOI

City police commissioner MN Reddi, after his visit to the crime spot said that special teams have been formed to investigate the matter. One of the teams will be going to a neighbouring state as well.

Talking to media outside the college, Rohini Katoch Sepat, deputy commissioner of police, southeast said that Mahesh, who is in his 40's, barged into the room, where the girls were staying and bolted the room inside, before opening fire at the girls. "We have some clues in the case, however we can't reveal them at this point. Special teams are on the job," she said.

Gauthami and Shirisha, are natives of Tumur district, located 70km from Bengaluru. Both of them were students of second year pre-university course and were in the middle of their common entrance exam preparation. Gauthami is a daughter of pharmaceutical professional, while Shirisha is the daughter of a doctor.

(This article was originally published in The Times of India).