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Nepalese woman found dead in Chandigarh hotel was murdered by husband
The accused, Aashish Lohani, 28, also hailing from Nepal, was arrested from Maloya Road, near Ziri Mandi Chowk, within 24 hours of the crime, said Chandigarh Police
The Nepalese woman found dead at a hotel in Kishangarh on Friday was murdered by her estranged husband after she refused to return to him, police said on Saturday.
The accused, Aashish Lohani, 28, also hailing from Nepal, was arrested from Maloya Road, near Ziri Mandi Chowk, within 24 hours of the crime.
The victim, Crystal Lohani, 24, was found dead at Hotel Kamron Inn on Friday morning shortly after Aashish left the premises two days after they checked in together, pointing the needle of suspicion at him.
Launching a manhunt, police constituted three teams of crime branch, under the supervision of inspector Satvinder Singh, and tracked down the accused on Saturday.
Love story turned deadly
According to police, from preliminary interrogation, it came to fore that Crystal was an orphan who was raised by Aashish’s father Jaya Ram Lohani in Kathmandu, Nepal. Growing up together, they fell in love, but realising that their relationship won’t be accepted, they had eloped and gotten married.
They had arrived in India five months ago and lived in different places, including Ludhiana and Barmajra, before moving to Pipliwala Town, Manimajra. Aashish was working at a night club in Phase 1, Industrial Area, while Crystal worked for a spa in Sector 26.
But a week back, Aashish eloped with another girl, aged around 18, who was living on rent in the couple’s building. They were apprehended by police at Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, while trying to flee to Nepal.
When Aashish returned to Chandigarh, Crystal had also left the house for another man. Piqued, he conspired to kill her and purchased a kitchen knife, said police.
Aashish met Crystal on March 8 to persuade her to return to him, but she refused and her boyfriend also thrashed him. He apologised to Crystal and asked her to spend some time with him, following which both checked into Hotel Kamron Inn in Kishangarh on March 8.
For two days, he cajoled her to live with him, but Crystal did not budge. On March 10, the couple had an argument and Aashish stabbed her in the neck twice. As she collapsed, he took her pictures from his mobile phone, took a shower and left the hotel, while telling the staff that he was going to get breakfast.
To evade arrest, he got a haircut and shaved off his beard, before fleeing to Ludhiana. He returned on Saturday to collect his passbook and debit card, when police nabbed him.
Aashish is facing a case under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, punishable with death or imprisonment for life.
