A 49-year-old woman was accidentally killed after she tried to rescue her neighbour who was being attacked by her drunk husband at Janatha Colony in JJ Nagar on Thursday.
Lalithamma sustained severe head injuries when she tried to prevent the accused, Manjunath, from hitting his wife with a boulder. It fell on her head instead, police said.
A profusely bleeding Lalithamma was rushed to Victoria Hospital where she succumbed to injuries later.
The JJ Nagar police arrested Manjunath, a construction labourer, for murder and took him into custody.
According to police, Manjunath, a chronic alcoholic, used to fight with wife Sunanda, demanding money for liquor. On Thursday, he came home drunk and demanded Rs 500, which Sunanda refused. Manjunath started assaulting Sunanda and dragged her out of the house and tried to snatch her mangal sutra.
Lalithamma came to her rescue and snapped at Manjunath. As people gathered, a humiliated Manjunath picked up a boulder to attack Sunanda. Lalithamma, in a bid to save Sunanda, came in the way and was hit on the head, police said.