India, Oct. 13 -- A 16-year-old girl has been taken into custody for allegedly helping her 23-year-old friend murder her grandmother in Karnataka's Mandya district after the woman objected to their friendship, police said on Tuesday.

The accused youth, identified as Akash, who works as a driver, is absconding.

The victim, identified as 55-year-old Mahadevamma, was found dead at her house in Bookanakere village in K R Pet taluk on the morning of October 11. Police initially suspected that the death was not natural after relatives noticed marks on her neck.

A complaint by a relative, identified as Ravikumar, who raised suspicions about the circumstances of her death, led to an investigation.

Mandya superintendent of police Shobha Rani t...