He was brainwashed into doing it; there is no way my son could have committed such a brutal murder by himself,” claimed ex-serviceman A C Ramesh, 54. Ramesh’s son and Genpact staffer Rasvin Chengappa, 26, was arrested by the HSR Layout police on Friday for allegedly murdering his colleague and HR Manager Saurabh Rastogi, 33, on June 14, after reportedly developing an ‘obsession’ with the victim’s wife.
In an exclusive chat with Bangalore Mirror, Rasvin’s family members revealed intricate details about his persona and how, looking back, they realised that his behaviour had altered just the slightest bit over the last six months leading up to the crime.
“Rasvin has always been a soft-spoken, kind-hearted boy. He has had a helpful nature since he was a kid and is the sort of person who will go to any extent for his dear ones. I have never once seen him lose his cool, because his disposition is mild. He never showed signs of being distressed, so we had no idea that something was troubling him. It was only after everything that we realised that there had been minute changes in his behaviour that we had barely noticed,” said a visibly upset Ramesh, who served in the Indian Army Service Corps (ASC) and retired in 1995.
The family hails from Kodagu, but moved all over the country due to Ramesh’s postings. They finally moved from Ranchi, Jharkhand to Bangalore around 18 years ago, and enrolled Rasvin and his sister in Army Public School, where they finished their primary and secondary education.
Rasvin, who completed his Bachelor’s of Science degree in Chemistry, Biology, and Zoology from Christ University, joined Hewlett-Packard soon after his graduation in 2009. A year later, he switched companies and began working for Thomson Reuters, which he left in 2012 when he received an offer from Genpact.
It was there that he befriended Saurabh and reportedly became infatuated with his wife, Ankisha, whom he got close to on the pretext of learning accountancy, according to the police.
His older sister, Jassi, 27, got married a year ago and moved out of their parents’ home. Recalling him as a quiet, charming boy, Jassi said, “Rasvin is very fond of children and is gentle with them. All the little ones in our community and family looked up to him as a role model. He has always been friendly by nature, and all his friends will vouch for his innocent nature. Whatever happened that night was the result of some provocation. He must have been very mentally disturbed and committed the crime as a result of this.”
Though he has known Rasvin for just over a year, his brother-in-law Vijay is horrified by what happened. “This is like our worst nightmare. We are unable to eat, sleep, or come to terms with what has happened. Our entire family is devastated. Nobody can believe that our Rasvin is capable of this. There is much more to this case than what meets the eye. The police should investigate the matter thoroughly and bring the whole truth to light, because Rasvin is not the only conspirator,” he claimed, eyes welling up with tears.
The youth’s mother, A R Shobha, said, “My putta has not even completed 26 years. His birthday is coming up on June 29.Our family has always been close-knit and though Rasvin would share all his feelings with us, none could predict he had been feeling upset for a while. His favourite food is the grilled chicken that I make.”
Police suspect that Rasvin may have planned to commit the murder after learning that Saurabh and Ankisha were moving to the USA permanently by July. On the night of June 14, when Ankisha was away in Pune, Rasvin reportedly went to their Suncity apartment in Iblur to meet Saurabh. Rasvin reportedly spoke to Saurabh claiming he was interested in renting the flat after the couple moved abroad, claiming he would purchase all the furniture in the flat. During the conversation, Rasvin allegedly threatened Saurabh with a toy gun, which started a fight. The youth then managed to overpower Saurabh by stabbing him in his back with a knife he had carried, before slitting the victim’s throat six times, police said.
The day after the murder was committed, Rasvin is said to have gone out with his friends as usual. “There was nothing noticeably different about his actions, and we had no reason to suspect anything. He has never mentioned either Saurabh or Ankisha to us, and we are not the prying kind to check his phone calls and SMSes. We firmly believe that Rasvin was ‘used’ by someone and that he was brainwashed into doing what he did. It is up to the police to deliver justice,” Ramesh said.
