Woman, mother strangle husband in Gurugram after domestic spat

After he was dead, the two women then took the body to the Sector 10A civic hospital, investigators said, adding that doctors declared him dead and informed the police

A 49-year-old man was strangled to death by his wife and her mother after a domestic spat at their Gurugram Sector 9A residence, police officers aware of the case said on Friday. The officers said that initially, the women tried to cover up the murder by claiming that the deceased — an alcoholic — had died of excessive liquor consumption, but an autopsy report revealed that he had been murdered.

The police identified the deceased as Ajne Mandal and said that his wife Rakhi Devi Mandal and her mother Opeshri Mandal killed him on March 23. (Representational Image)

Police identified the deceased as Ajne Mandal, adding that his wife Rakhi Devi Mandal, 35, and her mother Opeshri Mandal, 58, killed him on March 23. According to police, Ajne used to return home in an inebriated state almost every evening, and would frequently fight with his wife and mother-in-law.

Giving details of the case, police said on the night of the murder, Ajne returned to his residence at Surya Vihar in Sector 9A in an inebriated state as usual, and began a verbal altercation with Rakhi, following which she pushed him hard, and he cracked his head on a wall and fell unconscious. Thereafter, police said, Rakhi called her mother Opeshri, who lived in the same neighbourhood, and the two women then strangled Ajne to death using a cloth.

After he was dead, the two women then took the body to the Sector 10A civic hospital, investigators said, adding that doctors declared him dead and informed the police.

Inspector Rambir Kumar, station house officer of the Sector 9A police station, said two women tried to cover his death by linking it to excessive drinking. “However, we sent the body for post mortem and received a report on Thursday, from which it became clear that he was strangled, following which we registered a murder case,” he said.

Kumar said that the woman and her mother were immediately arrested and were quizzed, and they confessed to the murder. “Both women were later forwarded to judicial custody,” he said.