‘29-yr-old killed Delhi woman after she rejected marriage propsal’

The details of the crime came to light after police recovered the body of the woman, identified as Neelesh Singh, from Hapur

A 24-year-old Delhi woman was allegedly strangulated to death last week, her body stuffed in a suitcase, and dumped in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur by her boyfriend after she refused to marry him, police said on Sunday.

Delhi Police officers said investigations revealed that he had kept the victim’s body at the house for over nine hours before leaving at night to dump it. (Getty Images)

The two had also fought over money on the day of the crime, police said, adding that investigation found that the accused owed the victim ₹5 lakh.

The details of the crime came to light after police recovered the body of the woman, identified as Neelesh Singh, from Hapur on May 30. Police have identified the accused as 29-year-old Satendra Yadav, who was arrested on June 6.

Officers said that on May 28, Singh, who lived with her father and three brothers, had left her house to meet Yadav. However, the two had a fight at Yadav’s house in West Vinod Nagar and he strangulated her to death.

Delhi Police officers said investigations revealed that he had kept Singh’s body at the house for over nine hours before leaving at night to dump it.

The body was found in a suitcase thrown in a canal in Hapur, and Yadav could only be traced on June 5 in the city.

Investigation found that Singh was engaged to marry someone else. “The duo had been having fights for sometime. Singh wanted to end the relationship and got engaged in April this year. Yadav, however, was unaware and wanted to marry her. Singh was also trying to recover the ₹5 lakh she had loaned him,” said an officer.

The murder case was lodged by Hapur police on May 30 after finding an unidentified body in the canal. Singh’s family identified her body on June 4.

A senior police officer in Delhi said, “The case is with UP Police now. However, we found that Singh wanted her money back and was even forcing Yadav. He had taken the money and promised to return it within a year. He had lied to her that he was going to use it to start a business and help his family. However, he bought a Mahindra TUV and used the rest of the money on parties and travel.”

On the night of the crime, Yadav drove for over 70km while escaping and avoiding police and toll booths, reached Hapur, found an isolated spot and dumped her body, said the UP Police.