Man strangles wife in Sector-53, takes her to hospital to cover up murder

Joshi strangled his wife with a scarf in a fit of rage during the scuffle, according to investigators

A 24-year-old Nepalese man was arrested from the city on Sunday night for allegedly strangling his wife to death after a scuffle at Saraswati Kunj in Sector-53, police said on Monday.

Police contacted the woman’s family in Nepal and found that the couple did not have a cordial relationship and Joshi had also threatened her relatives over the phone that he would kill her soon. (HT FILE)

The murder, according to the police, took place early on Saturday morning. They identified the suspect as Tapras Joshi, a resident of Doti in Nepal.

Investigators said that Joshi got married to 21-year-old Shanti Bugti more than a year ago and had brought her to the city a month back. Joshi worked as a cook at a PG in Saraswati Kunj and lived there with his wife.

According to the police, both of them had an argument on Friday night. After midnight, they had a scuffle during which Bugti kicked and punched Joshi.

Station house officer of Sector-53 police station, Inspector Rajender Kumar, said Joshi strangled his wife with a scarf in a fit of rage during the scuffle.

“He later rearranged the room and alerted other PG employees that his wife was unresponsive. He rushed her to Sector-10 civil hospital with help from others at about 2am on Saturday where doctors declared her dead,” the SHO said, adding that they received an alert from the hospital about a deceased woman and launched an investigation.

“Joshi tried to mislead the police by telling us that she was suffering from cough, cold and cardiac ailment and passed away in her sleep. We preserved the crime scene where she had died. Several medicines for ailments as described by Joshi were found there which initially kept him away from suspicion,” he said.

Investigators said that the woman’s family in Nepal was contacted when it emerged that the couple did not have a cordial relationship and Joshi had also threatened her relatives over the phone that he would kill her soon. They said Bugti had informed her family that Joshi assaulted her besides keeping her confined.

Kapil Ahlawat, assistant commissioner of police (Sadar), said they received the autopsy report on Sunday which made it clear that Bugti had been strangled. “We immediately took Joshi in custody and interrogated him sternly when he confessed to the murder. Following this, he was arrested,” Ahlawat said.

Based on a complaint by Bugti’s cousin Tek Singh, a FIR was registered against Joshi under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code at Sector-53 police station on Sunday night.