Delhi University professor murdered wife for dowry in Burari house, say police

According to the police, Virender Kumar, an assistant professor at Delhi University, allegedly admitted that he murdered his wife as he felt “cheated” after a cheque of ₹5 lakh, given to him by his wife’s family as a “wedding gift”, bounced

A 38-year-old Delhi University (DU) assistant professor, Virender Kumar, was arrested along with his cousin, Govind Prasad, 29, in connection with the murder of his wife Pinky Singh in Burari on Monday. Police arrested the two men after questioning Kumar’s former driver, Rakesh, 31, who was arrested in the case on Monday evening.

The police have arrested Virender Kumar (first from right) and two others for the murder of Kumar’s wife at their house in Burari. (Sourced)

Kumar, who holds a PhD in Sanskrit, works as an ad hoc teacher at Ramjas College, police said.

According to the police, Kumar allegedly admitted that he murdered his wife as he felt “cheated” after a cheque of ₹5 lakh, given to him by Pinky’s family as a “wedding gift”, bounced. Police said Kumar and Pinky got married in February 2020.

Pinky’s family members also told police that Kumar was harassing her for dowry for the past several months.

Police said former driver Rakesh was arrested on Monday evening after a police officer found him loitering in the Burari area “in a state of nervousness”. Police have now confirmed that this was part of the plan to mislead them.

Police said Rakesh, when questioned, said he had come to surrender after killing his employer’s wife. After arresting him, a police team reached the couple’s home in Sant Nagar and found Pinky dead on her bed. Police then registered a case of murder and announced Rakesh’s arrest, adding that they were probing the role of others in the crime.

Police said further Investigation revealed that Rakesh allegedly strangled Pinky and also electrocuted her till she died.

According to police, Rakesh allegedly helped Kumar carry out the murder because he had a grudge against Pinky for sacking him as the family driver and getting him evicted from the building. Rakesh told police that Kumar had bought a WagonR car three years ago, which they used as a taxi with Rakesh as the driver.

Police said at the time of Rakesh’s arrest on Monday evening, a separate team was probing Kumar, who had also been detained for questioning.

THE HUSBAND’S ROLE

Kumar allegedly told investigators that he was not at home at the time of the murder, but he made contradictory statements when asked as to why he was not at home.

“It was on Monday morning that Kumar and Rakesh made plans to kill Pinky, even though they first spoke about it over 15-20 days ago. He told Rakesh about his marital issues and that the ₹5 lakh cheque had bounced. Rakesh, on the other hand, was upset because he was sacked from the driver’s post by Pinky and made to vacate the room he occupied,” said deputy commissioner of police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi.

DCP Kalsi said according to the plan, Rakesh was to surrender and mislead the police investigation. “Kumar would then help Rakesh get bail and provide him with legal aid. Rakesh did as planned and confessed to the murder on Monday. But there were inconsistencies in his statements. So we scanned the footage from over 300 CCTV cameras to ascertain the time when Kumar left the house. The evidence we gathered showed that both men were lying. Kumar was subjected to detailed questioning and he confessed to the murder. He also said his nephew, Govind Kumar, helped him in the crime,” Kalsi said.

DOWRY ALLEGATIONS

Pinky’s brother Manvir Singh said his sister and Kumar got married on February 16, 2021. It was an arranged marriage. Singh said a week after the wedding, Pinky was forced to return to her parent’s home in Vijay Nagar as Kumar started pestering her for dowry. “My father is a junior employee with the Indian Railways. He sold our house to pay the dowry but that was not enough for Pinky’s husband. Within a week, Kumar started harassing my sister. He also threatened Pinky and we filed a police complaint in this regard. He took Pinky back in August only after we threatened to pursue our complaint,” Singh said.

DELHI TOPPED DOWRY DEATHS IN 2019 and 2020

Pinky’s killing has brought to fore the rise in dowry related crimes in the national capital. Among all metropolitan cities with a population of at least two million, Delhi reported the maximum dowry deaths in 2020. At least 111 women were murdered last year (2020) over dowry in Delhi, shows the data released by the National Crime Records Bureau.

Lucknow came second on the list with 48 dowry deaths. In Mumbai, there were 12 cases, while Bengaluru reported 28, Kolkata nine and Chennai 3.

In 2019, too, Delhi topped the nationwide list with 117 dowry related cases. An analysis of over 500 dowry related cases registered in Delhi in 2017 by HT showed that the dowry demands ranged from a buffalo to a gas cylinder; from an autorickshaw to an Audi car, from a few thousands to crores of rupees.