South Delhi man kills live-in partner, flees after locking flat; held

Police allege he strangled and assaulted her during a drunken quarrel, locked the house and escaped; married father of three was nabbed in Maidangarhi on Monday.

A 36-year-old man was arrested on Monday for allegedly strangling and assaulting his live-in partner to death in their rented accommodation in south Delhi’s Jonapur village last week.

Police say he suspected her of an affair, strangled and beat her on Nov 12; case registered on Nov 16 and he was picked up in Maidangarhi after days on the run. (File photo)

Police said the man suspected the 35-year-old woman of having an affair so last week Wednesday, he first strangled her, then thrashed her with a broom and a stick until she stopped responding. The woman’s decomposed body was found on Saturday, almost three days after the murder.

While Rajkumar alias Raju is from Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad, he works as a taxi driver in the city and the woman was from Kolkata. He allegedly locked the house from outside after the crime and surrendered the taxi to his employer two days later before fleeing from the area. He was arrested from Bans Gaon in south Delhi’s Maidangarhi on Monday, deputy commissioner of police (south) Ankit Chauhan, said.

A resident of the building informed the police at 4.20pm on Saturday about a foul smell coming from the flat. Police reached the spot, broke open the door, and found a woman’s body wrapped in a bedsheet.

Police said since the man was missing from the spot, he became their prime suspect. A case of murder was registered on November 16 and he was arrested.

Raju is married and has three children. The family lives in Firozabad while he was living in Delhi with the woman for the last three years.

“On the evening of November 12, the woman was inebriated when an altercation broke out between Raju and the woman. Raju strangled her and assaulted her with a broom and a stick, leading to her death,” an officer said.