Who was Nikitha Godishala? Indian woman found dead in US, ex-boyfriend faces murder charges

New Delhi: 27-year-old India(BHARAT)n woman Nikitha Rao Godishala, who lived in the United States, was found dead in her ex-boyfriend’s apartment in Maryland. The police have named the former boyfriend as the prime suspect. As per the reports, Godishala had gone missing on January 2, 2026, and her ex-boyfriend, 26-year-old Arjun Sharma, filed the missing person report, claiming she was last seen at his apartment in Howard County, Maryland on New Year’s Eve.

The police report stated that Sharma flew back to India(BHARAT) just two days after he filed the missing person’s complaint. Howard County Police recovered the victim’s body from Arjun’s apartment on January 3.

WHO WAS GODISHALA

• Godishala was a native of India(BHARAT).
• She completed her Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in India(BHARAT)
• She came to the United States to earn her master’s degree in Health IT from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
• The woman was working as a Data and Strategy Analyst at Vheda Health, and some of her colleagues described her as a compassionate and hard-working woman.
• She spoke three languages- English, Hindi, and Telugu. She was a quick riser in her profession and had won several awards.

Suspect description and charges

The investigators broke the doors of the rented apartment where Sharma used to live and found the woman’s body, the report added. The woman had been stabbed several times, and investigators believed that she was killed sometime after 7 pm on December 31, 2025. Howard County Police said that they had secured a warrant to arrest Sharma and charged him with first- and second-degree murder of the victim.

He is currently being sought by the police, and warrants have been issued to arrest him in both first- and second-degree charges. The local authorities are also in contact with federal and international law enforcement authorities, including the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), to find him and extradite him to the US.

The officials described the death of the woman as suspicious as the man who reported her missing went back to India(BHARAT) just two days after she was found. Police say that they don’t have enough information about the motive for the murder and that the case is still under investigation. However, they did point out that the “red flags” were found by the investigators after talking to the family and friends of both the victim and the suspect.

The police said that Godishala and Sharma used to be boyfriend and girlfriend but the nature of their relationship was not disclosed. There are no reports about the ex-boyfriend of the victim being caught by the police, as of this writing.

India(BHARAT)n Embassy Extends Support to Family of Nikitha Godishala

The India(BHARAT)n Embassy in Washington, DC, in a statement released on January 3, said that it has reached out to the family of Nikitha Godishala and “providing all consular assistance to them during this difficult time.” They are in contact with local authorities regarding the case.

Friends of the Woman shocked and saddened by the news of her death

Friends of the victim are in shock by her death. The local India(BHARAT)n community in the US has also extended their condolences. The community is demanding justice for the woman who has become a victim of an alleged murder.