Man killed in east Delhi over suspected affair, accused on run

On Monday, police said, the accused, intoxicated and enraged, confronted the victim at his residence, accusing him of hiding his wife

A 33-year-old man was allegedly stabbed to death by a former neighbour in New Ashok Nagar, east Delhi, on Monday night over suspicions of an affair with the accused’s wife, police said on Tuesday. The victim, identified as Bechu Ram from Uttar Pradesh, succumbed to his injuries at Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hospital, they added. The accused remains absconding.

The deceased, Bechu Ram. (HT Photo)

Deputy commissioner of police (east) Apoorva Gupta said, “The accused suspected Ram of being in a relationship with his wife. A case has been registered, and multiple teams are searching for the accused.” The officer refrained from naming the suspect due to the ongoing investigation.

According to police, the control room received a call around 10.30pm from LBS Hospital reporting Ram’s admission with stab wounds. By the time officers arrived, he had been declared brought dead. Ram was taken to the hospital by a distant relative, Amit Ranjan Mishra, investigators said, adding that police has witheld the name of the absconding accused.

The initial probe revealed that Ram had moved into a one-room flat in New Ashok Nagar two months ago. The accused, who had been living in the same building, was evicted along with his wife two weeks ago for disruptive behaviour following an earlier altercation with Ram. Mishra confirmed the previous assault, citing the accused’s suspicions about his wife’s involvement with Ram. “After that incident, the house owner asked the accused and his wife to leave. Ram, who was unmarried, continued to live in the house,” Mishra said.

On Monday night, police said, the accused, intoxicated and enraged, confronted Ram at his residence, accusing him of hiding his wife. “His wife had left him, and he thought that she had come to Ram. Therefore, he came to Ram’s residence heavily drunk and started abusing him, telling him that he had hidden his wife,” an officer aware of the case said. The argument escalated, and the accused stabbed Ram multiple times in the lower abdomen before fleeing the scene. Locals alerted Mishra, who rushed Ram to the hospital.

DCP Gupta said, “The accused is absconding, and teams are working to apprehend him.” Investigators are questioning the accused’s wife to trace his whereabouts, he added.