'Angry over abortion’, man murders ex-GF, her friend's 6-month-old child in Delhi, arrested from Uttarakhand

Victim Sonal Arya’s family say she was tired of being abused by Nikhil and left him in Jan, had filed a complaint with police on June 24

New Delhi: Police on Wednesday arrested 23-year-old Nikhil Kumar, who allegedly slit the throats of his former live-in partner Sonal Arya and her friend’s six-month-old child at Majnu Ka Tila on Tuesday, from Haldwani.

Sonal Arya, 22, the victim. (Family photo/HT)

Officers aware of the investigation said the accused killed the child in “revenge” as he suspected Arya of being pregnant and blamed the infant’s father for helping her to abort the child.

Police said the accused suspected Arya, 22, of being influenced by Durgesh Kumar, the husband of her friend Rashmi Devi, where Arya had been staying for the past few weeks. Nikhil works as a food delivery agent, police said.

People and Police personnel at the site after a woman named Sonal and an infant (her friend's daughter) were found stabbed to death in the Majnu Ka Tila area, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (ANI)

“Recently, she got pregnant and decided to abort the child. Nikhil believed that she had done so with Durgesh’s help. Therefore, he bought a surgical blade from Durgesh’s mobile repair shop on Tuesday and killed the two. He killed Durgesh’s daughter because he believed that Arya aborted their child with Durgesh’s help,” Deputy commissioner of police (north) Raja Banthia said.

Sold a child earlier: Police

Officers said that as per the initial probe, Arya and Nikhil met in Haldwani in 2023. “It has been revealed that she got pregnant and gave birth to a child in 2024, and they sold the child in Uttarakhand. They began living here together in Wazirabad thereafter,” DCP Banthia said.

At the Sabzi Mandi mortuary on Wednesday, Arya’s family members said she was tired of being abused by Nikhil and left him in January. She also filed a complaint at the Civil Lines police station on June 24.

Arya’s sister, Hema Arya, 28, said her sister came to stay with her in January after leaving Nikhil’s house in Aruna Nagar, and that their parents lived in Nainital.

“She started living with Nikhil and his family — father, brother and sister — about two years ago. He was obsessed with her. He used to shout at her and beat her up for the smallest of things. He wouldn’t even let her break up and leave if she wanted to. But in January, she decided to move out,” Hema said.

'He acted like a maniac'

Their mother, 50-year-old Asha Arya, said that Nikhil would often call and blame them for the break-up. “He used to call and shout at us too. He used to tell our daughter that I didn’t want them to be together. He used to act like a maniac. When my daughter came to Nainital last year, he called her so many times and didn’t let her stay with us. He even came to Nainital,” the mother said.

In one instance, Hema recalled that Arya called her last month when she was in office, and she got a video call from Arya. “She video-called me and said that Nikhil was outside shouting and she had locked the door. She was really scared,” Hema said.

They said that Nikhil started sharing Arya’s photos on social media, following which she approached the police. “She lodged the complaint at the Civil Lines police station, demanding that the photos be deleted. The officials then called him and asked him to remove the photographs. She also demanded her belongings back from his house,” Hema said.

From the police station, her family said, Arya went to her friend Devi’s house. “Devi and her husband would often call her and ask her to stay with them. She was also very attached to the kids, so she went to their house on June 24 and had been staying there since,” Hema said.

Durgesh said that Nikhil visited their residence once to hand over Arya’s belongings. “He had come to my shop also and questioned me why we were keeping Arya at our residence,” he said.

Devi, meanwhile, sat sobbing uncontrollably, waiting for the remains of her dead child.