How a visit to celebrate birthday of nephew turned fatal for Mathura teen

ON APRIL 14, 17-year-old Ram Pratapsingharrivedindelhifrom Mathura, UP, at his sister's home in East Delhi's Shakarpur. The occasionwasthesecondbirthdayof his nephew the next day. A day later, he heard a quarrel between his sister Kamlesh Holkar, a PT teacher,andherhusbandsriyansh Kumar, 33. During a conversation with a cousin, Ram informed him about the spat, sharing that he wasscaredandthathewouldgive more details on his way back to Mathura on Wednesday.

However, he would never make it back home. On the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, Ram was allegedly killed by his brother-in-law who strangled him with a belt before stabbinghimmultipletimeswith a screwdriver, minutes after he had killed Kamlesh, 30, in a similar manner on the bed she was sharingwithherchild,saidpolice. Afewhourslater,sriyanshsurrendered at the local police station.

Dcp(east)apoorvaguptasaid initial enquiry revealed there was a fight between the couple, and the husband went missing from

the house the next morning. The weapon of offence, a screwdriver, was recovered from their home. Anfirwasregisteredundermurder sections and Sriyansh was taken into police custody.

An unusual money transfer

According to police, the fights

began a few days ago when Kamlesh, who taught in Sahibabad, learnt that her husbandhadtransferredrs50,000to awomanhehadknownfromcollege. Kamlesh called up the woman but the latter denied being in touch with Sriyansh or having any knowledge of the money transfer, said police.

Sriyansh, who had earlier worked at IT firms in Bengaluru and Delhi but had been unemployedforawhilenow,toldpolice he had a dream in which he was “askedto”killhiswife,saidpolice.

Senior officers said Kamlesh was upset over the money transfer. “The family's financial condition was not good. Sriyansh was unemployed and most of the expenses were borne by Kamlesh...,” said an official.

Police said they have questioned the woman who said she had not been in touch with Sriyansh since college. Police are stillverifyingthewoman'sclaims, said an official.

Dowry demand?

Meanwhile, Kamlesh's parents have accused Sriyansh of demanding dowry and have given a statement in this regard to the sub-divisionalmagistrate,saidpolice, adding sections under prohibition of dowry act are likely to be added to the FIR.

Police said Sriyansh and Kamlesh lived in a joint family with the man's parents living on thesecondfloorandhisgrandparents on the first floor of the house. The couple lived on the third floor with their child.

Police said that during questioning, Sriyansh shared that he wasfrustratedaboutbeingunemployeddespitehavingabtechdegree, adding the quarrel exacerbatedhisfrustration.“...onfurther questioning, he said that he had a dream in which he was told to kill his wife...,” said an officer. Regarding Ram, police said Sriyansh wanted to kill anyone close to his wife.

Kamlesh and Ram's cousin, Gobind Baghel, who works in the Itsector,saidhehadspokentothe Class12studentontuesdaynight. “Ram told me about the quarrel between Kamlesh and Sriyansh andsaidhewouldtellmorewhile leaving for Mathura on Wednesday morning. He was very scared so we did not talk much...” Baghel told The Indian Express.

Victims Kamlesh and Ram.