Beast of Bangalore: When and where to watch the documentary on serial killer Umesh Reddy

The story of serial killer Umesh Reddy has fascinated multiple Kannada filmmakers in the past. There were two films, Umesh and Khatarnak Umesh Reddy, about the former police officer-turned-criminal, while Dandupalya featured his character as one of the deadly gang’s members. While the films were cinematic representations of what has been said and heard about the dreaded serial killer, a documentary that’s coming tomorrow is set to shine light on the crimes of the man, who was dubbed a freak for stealing women’s undergarments and wearing them too, with accounts from people in the areas where he struck terror.

In the latest edition of its true-crime documentary series Indian Predator, Netflix presents the story of Umesh Reddy, the police officer who would rape and then murder his victims, often housewives or young girls, and take off with their jewellery and underclothes. Umesh is believed to have been involved in a spate of crimes against women between 1996, predominantly in Bengaluru, Davanagere, Hubballi-Dharwad and Pune.

Reddy was arrested a few times, and escaped too, but was found to be wearing women’s undergarments at the time of arrest. At the time of his last arrest also he was wearing a bra and panty and had several other pairs in his luggage, along with other items of women’s clothings.

Reddy is believed to have raped and killed at least 20 women during the course of 1996 to 2002. However, he was convicted in only nine of these cases, while he was acquitted in 11 for lack of evidence. The nine cases he was found guilty in got him multiple sentences, including capital punishment. The death penalty was upheld by the Karnataka High Court and the Supreme Court too.

However, he then made multiple mercy petitions to the President, High Court and Supreme Court. While no presidential pardon was forthcoming, the High Court also rejected his plea, but the apex court commuted the death penalty to a 30-year sentence only a month ago, which had sparked public outrage.

Indian Predator: Beast of Bangalore will start streaming on December 16 on Netflix.