Man gets 10-year jail for brutal attack on woman during ATM robbery in Bengaluru

Bengaluru, 03 Feb 2021 [Fik/News Sources]: Eight years after the shocking attack on Bengaluru-resident Jyoti Uday inside an ATM booth, the accused Kondappagiri Madhukar Reddy has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. The 64th City Civil and Sessions Court which heard the case also levied a penalty of Rs 10,000 on Reddy.  The court convicted Madhukar Reddy on the counts of robbery, causing grievous hurt, and for destroying evidence. It also directed the district legal services authority to compensate the victim.

The counsel of the accused pleaded to the court to reduce his sentence as one of his parents was bedridden and his wife and two children would be left to fend for themselves, as he was the sole breadwinner of the family. However, considering how brutal the attack was as well as Madhukar’s criminal history, the court decided to award the punishment for the crime.

The attack took place on November 19, 2013 when Jyoti had entered the ATM kiosk at NR Square. At 7:10 am, Jyoti had entered the ATM to withdraw cash for her daughter’s birthday party. Madhukar Reddy followed her into the ATM, downed its shutters and demanded the cash. When she refused to give he struck her head with a machete many times and left her to bleed, running away with the purse which had some money, a debit card and her ID proof. Reports from 2013 recall a crawling Jyoti screaming out from a pool of blood. She was helped by passers-by who heard her shouts.

CCTV visuals from the attack are so brutal and still remembered by those who investigated the case. One of the officers told TOI that the image of Jyoti pleading to the man to be left alone is hard to erase from his memory.

After the attack, Madhukar Reddy remained untraceable for three years, until February 2017. Fifteen teams of police officers were on the hunt for the accused and finally he was nabbed from Madanapalli in Andhra Pradesh.

Then assistant commissioner of police C Thimmiah investigated the case and filed a chargesheet. The trial began on June 29, 2017 and charges were framed against Reddy on January 14, 2019. The chargesheet mentioned 45 witnesses and out of which 21 were examined. The evidence recording was finally completed in August 2020. According to reports, the victim in her deposition narrated the entire account with clarity, making her statement crucial in the accused’s conviction.

The accused had also used a dummy gun to threaten Jyoti which he disposed of in Kerala to destroy evidence. If the accused fails to pay the fine, he will have to undergo 1 year of simple imprisonment. He also received two years simple imprisonment for destroying evidence.

Criminal history

Hailing from Maddula Puram village in Andhra Pradesh, Reddy had allegedly escaped from the Kadapa prison in 2011 where he was serving a life term for murdering his cousin by hurling crude bombs.

After escaping, he spent a while waiting tables at Hyderabad’s Minerva hotel. However, after his parents expressed disappointment in him, Reddy decided to start a life of crime and amass money. He went to a gift shop to purchase a toy gun and bought a machete to another shop. In 2013, he moved to Bengaluru where he decided to steal valuables from individuals. Landing up in the Bathalapalli village, he entered the house of a woman as he had no money for food or travel.

“I locked the door and when she came back with the glass of water, I pointed the machete at her and asked her to give me all her valuables. When she refused, I hacked her in the face and neck with the machete. I took her earrings, ATM card and passbook. I went to an ATM and withdrew Rs 3,000 from that card,” Madhukar Reddy’s confession reads.

Days after this attack, he boarded a train to Bengaluru. With only Rs 200 left, he walked the streets of the city with no money for food or accommodation. He even begged to make some money. This is when he decided to steal cash from people who visited ATMs.

On November 19, 2013, he was waiting near the Corporation Bank ATM in NR Square when he saw Jyoti Uday enter the kiosk.

“She told me that even if I harmed her, she would not give me her money. I squeezed her neck and demanded money. She told me that she would rather die than give into my threats. That’s when I hacked her head and neck with the machete. I wiped my bloody hands with her scarf, took her mobile phone, Rs 200 and her ATM card and fled,” Madhukar Reddy’s confession reads. He threw away her sim card and discarded her ATM card at the bus stand, from where he went to the railway station.

He then boarded a train to Andhra Pradesh from the Majestic station. In the Majestic station, he sold Jyoti’s phone for Rs 500 and took up a room at a lodge. He also shaved his head to conceal himself from the police teams on the lookout for him.