Agra auto driver kills American wife, blows himself up

AGRA: When Arianne Willinger became Kiran to wed autorickshaw driver Bunty Sharma, little did she know that in five months, the Bollywood-style love story that transcended nationality and class would end in tragedy.

On Thursday night, Bunty, 32, who had a criminal past, stabbed his American wife to death before blowing himself up in a gas-filled room.

Arianne, 35, had met Bunty in September last year when she was visiting Agra along with a group of Americans. They fell in love and got married on a rooftop restaurant with the Taj Mahal in the background in October last year.

But the marriage quickly dissolved into discord with both accusing each other of hiding previous marriages. The couple started living separately from December.

With the marriage progressively worsening, Willinger approached the police’s mediation cell for family matters in January accusing Bunty of cruelty, greed and infidelity. The couple, however, continued to meet during the period of estrangement.

On Thursday evening, Bunty drove Willinger to the less-frequented Tuckar Road area, stabbing her to death before shoving her body in the bushes along the road.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6