Delhi cab driver killed woman, 30, for not marrying him; arrested

The accused, 34, was married, police added. He used to work as a cab driver, and was arrested on Friday from south Delhi’s Chirag Delhi. He had met the deceased three years ago through a common friend, police said

Police have arrested a man for allegedly repeatedly harassing and then killing a 30-year-old married woman, whose body was found at her home in east Delhi’s New Ashok Nagar last month, for rejecting his marriage proposal, officers said on Saturday. The accused, 34, was also married, they added.

The woman was found dead oat her home in east Delhi on February 26. (FILE)

The man, who used to work as a cab driver, was arrested on Friday from south Delhi’s Chirag Delhi. He had met the deceased three years ago through a common friend, police said.

However, over the last few months, Shiv Shankar Mukhiya had been harassing the woman to marry him and also used to threaten her husband to separate from her, said Amrutha Guguloth, deputy commissioner of police (east). The woman, lived with her 32-year-old husband, who works odd jobs, and three children.

“When the woman’s husband refused to separate from his wife, Mukhiya began putting up obscene posters of the couple in their neighbourhood,” said the DCP. Police said that the Mukhiya’s identity was unknown to the victim’s husband.

On February 26, her husband found his wife’s body at their home. “Autopsy revealed injuries on her head and inside her mouth. She had been smothered to death,” Guguloth said.

A murder case was subsequently registered. Police learn about the harassment and threats during investigation and local enquiry. “Police accessed CCTV footage and phone call records, and found out about the involvement of the cab driver. He was arrested after identification of the first and last registration numbers of his car, a Hyundai Accent,” the DCP said. While the police were probing the ownership of the vehicle, they said that the accused worked for a cab aggregator.

Mukhiya was arrested from his neighbourhood in Chirag Delhi, where he used to live with his wife, a domestic helper, and four children. He was booked under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, police said.