Hyderabad, Jan. 6 -- Howard County police in Maryland, US, have charged Arjun Sharma, 26, with first- and second-degree murder after his ex-girlfriend Nikitha Rao Godishala, 27 was found dead with stab injuries inside his home in Maryland on Saturday, January 3. Sharma fled to India on the same day. His whereabouts are unknown. The body was found when the police were following up on a missing persons complaint that Sharma himself filed on January 2. Godishala was from Hyderabad, and moved to the US to study in 2021 and was working there after her post graduation. In a representation to the Indian Embassy in the US, Nikitha's cousin Saraswathi said she loaned some money to Sharma on December 27 at her cousin's request. "I sent him $ 4,500, out of which he returned $ 3500. He contacted me again on January 2 and requested an additional $ 1000, which I denied," she said in her note. She suggested that Nikitha was following up with Arjun for the remaining $1,000 on December 31. In her representation, she also alleged that Sharma had made unauthorised financial transactions of about $3,500 from Nikitha's bank account before fleeing the US under the pretext of a hand injury and urgent medical treatment. "We seek your urgent assistance to ensure justice and dignity for my cousin Nikitha," Saraswati said. The police believe Sharma killed Nikitha shortly after 7pm on December 31. The victim's father Anand Godishala also suspected a financial angle behind his daughter's killing, even as he appealed to the state and central governments to help bring her body back to India. "Arjun Sharma used to borrow money from several people, including my daughter. He might have killed her when she went to his flat to demand him to return her money," he told reporters at his residence in Secunderabad. "She used to share an apartment, along with four others. Arjun used to borrow money from everyone there, including from my daughter." Anand said that he last spoke to his daughter over the phone on New Year's Eve. "I met Union minister G Kishan Reddy and state BJP president N Ramchander Rao toseek their help in bringing my daughter's body back to Hyderabad. I shall also meet the state government authorities," he added. According to details provided by her family, Nikitha Godishala moved to the US for a master's in health information technology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She joined Vheda Health in Columbia, Maryland in February 2025 as a Data and Strategy Analyst. The Indian Embassy has said that it is in touch with the family of Nikitha Godishala ....