Man strangles to death interfaith live-in partner in north-east Delhi

The arrest was of 29-year-old Parul Chaudhary, the sister of 28-year-old Vineet Pawar who was in a relationship with the victim, Rohina Naz

A 25-year-old woman was murdered by her live-in partner and his sister because the couple belonged to different religions and the man’s family did not approve of their relationship, Delhi Police said on Friday while announcing the arrest of one person.

Sister of main accused, Vineet Pawar, in police custody. (HT Photo)

The arrest was of 29-year-old Parul Chaudhary, the sister of 28-year-old Vineet Pawar who was in a relationship with the victim, Rohina Naz. Pawar strangled Naz to death on April 12, and the siblings, along with another friend, abandoned her body near a school in Karawal Nagar.

“Interrogation of Parul revealed that her brother’s live-in partner, Rohina Naz, belonged to a different community and she had been pressuring him to marry her. Pawar was not ready for the wedding because his family members did not approve of an inter-faith union. The couple often fought over the issue. On April 12, Pawar strangled her to death and disposed of her body with the help of Parul and his friend,” said deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Joy Tirkey.

Pawar and the unnamed friend were untraced as on Friday.

DCP Tirkey detailed the sequence of events that led to the suspects being identified, after initially only the body of a woman was found on the morning of April 12, with no clarity on her identity.

An autopsy on April 15 showed she had been strangulated, following which the police opened a murder probe. “Investigators checked CCTV cameras installed around the spot where the body was found. They found two men on a motorcycle moving around suspiciously, with a woman sitting in between them. Through CCTVs, they backtracked the routes the bike took and reached a neighbourhood in Teliwara of Farsh Bazar (in east Delhi),” said Tirkey.

Here, one of the CCTV camera showed a man seen carrying the woman’s body on his shoulder with a woman walking behind him, said Tirkey.

It was then that the suspects, with the help of locals, were identified as Pawar and his sister Chaudhary. By the time police reached their residence, Chaudhary had moved out with her children, loading her belongings on an animal-drawn cart.

“Our team scanned CCTVs and traced the cart to a Tonga stand near the Loni border. Its owner was questioned and he led the team members to a house in Kanti Nagar near Krishna Nagar in east Delhi, from where Parul was arrested. She confessed to her crime during interrogation,” added Tirkey.

According to Parul’s disclosures, the DCP said, Pawar and Naz eloped around four years ago and started living together. In 2017, Pawar and his father Vinay Pawar were involved in a murder in Ramala Sugar Mill in Baghpat. They were convicted on October 25, 2019, and awarded life imprisonment. While Pawar was in jail, Naz moved in with Chaudhary.

“On November 26, Pawar came out on bail and since then, Naz had been pressuring him to marry her. His family was against it. The siblings decided to sell her off. When Naz learnt about it on April 11 and confronted Pawar, the two fought over the issue and she was murdered. He hid her body in the bed box for the day and in the evening disposed of the body with a friend’s help,” said Tirkey.