Man, his woman friend held for killing 20-year-old wife
GHAZIABAD: The Ghaziabad police on Tuesday arrested a 36-year-old man and his 48-year-old woman friend on charges of murdering the man’s 20-year-old wife in DLF Colony.
The police said that the suspects were in a relationship since 2009 and the woman allegedly murdered the man’s wife, Santoshi Kumar, and also fled with her jewellery after making it look Santoshi was killed during a robbery.
Police said Santoshi was pregnant at the time of her murder.
The two suspects have been identified as Santosh Kumar Sahu (36), the dead woman’s husband, and Shanti Devi, Sahu’s friend, said police.
Police said Shanti Devi got the couple married in February this year but both the suspects continued to harass the newlymarried woman.
Shanti Devi has been booked for murder and robbery, while Sahu has been slapped with domestic violence and dowry death charges at Sahibabad police station.
“On the day of the incident, Shanti Devi came to Sahu’s house after he had gone to office. She picked up a fight with his wife Santoshi who later allegedly consumed a poisonous substance and fell unconscious. Shanti Devi allegedly tried to
revive her but she could not. So, she strangled her with a wire and also broke open the almirahs to decamp with cash and jewellery. She did this to make it look like Santoshi was murdered by burglars during a robbery,” said Gyanendra Kumar Singh, superintendent of police (city 2).
Police said the cause of the woman’s death was due to strangulation as per her autopsy report.
The murder took place between 10am and 11am and police teams were able to establish that Shanti Devi was present at the scene of the crime with the help of CCTV footage and also through electronic surveillance.
“When we called the woman for questioning, she broke down and admitted to killing Santoshi. She was upset as she could not meet with Sahu as frequently as she wanted in presence of his wife and the victim used to oppose her visits too. Both the suspects used to constantly harass the deceased woman and was also demanding dowry,” SP Singh said.
“The victim also jotted down incidents of harassment in her diary, which has been made a part of our case investigation,” Singh added.
Ghaziabad police said it has also recovered ₹49,300 cash and the looted jewellery from Shanti Devi. Both persons have been remanded in custody.