Woman murders husband in Delhi, search history on ‘ways to kill’ reveals plot

After police confronted her with her suspicious search history on phone, purportedly “on ways to kill a person”, the accused allegedly confessed.

A 29-year-old woman was apprehended on Tuesday for allegedly murdering her 32-year-old husband and initially attempting to pass it off as suicide, police said. The incident took place on Sunday evening in outer Delhi’s Nihal Vihar.

The incident took place on Sunday evening in outer Delhi’s Nihal Vihar. (PTI/Representative)

Later, after police confronted her with her suspicious search history on phone, purportedly “on ways to kill a person”, the accused, identified as Farzana Khan, allegedly confessed that she killed her husband, Mohammed Shahid alias Irfan, as she was dissatisfied with their relationship.

She told investigators that Shahid was unable to sexually satisfy her, was heavily in debt due to online gambling, and that she was also having an affair with his cousin.

According to police, the couple hailed from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh.

On Sunday evening, police were alerted by Sanjay Gandhi Hospital about a man who had been brought in dead.

Shahid’s brother, who had taken him to the hospital, reportedly told police that Farzana claimed that Shahid took his own life because of his gambling-related debts, officers said.

However, police grew suspicious after noticing three stab wounds on the body.

“The wife told us he stabbed himself, as he was under stress due to gambling losses,” said a senior officer.

But the postmortem examination, conducted on Monday, pointed to murder.

“The doctors informed us that the wounds were inconsistent with suicide. One of them was fatal and could not have been self-inflicted,” the officer added.

With suspicions mounting, police examined Farzana’s phone.

“We found internet search history related to “ways of killing someone using sleeping pills (sulphas), and how to delete chat histories”,” said the officer. “This further pointed to pre-meditation.”

When confronted with the evidence, Farzana allegedly broke down and confessed to the murder.

“She said she was unhappy in the marriage — both with their physical relationship and with the financial strain caused by his gambling. She also admitted to having an affair with her husband’s cousin, who lives in Bareilly,” the officer said.

Farzana was apprehended on Tuesday and further investigation is underway, police officers said.