29-year-old man arrested for battering girlfriend to death with spanner on busy Vasai road

Rohit and Aarti, both residents of Nalasopara, had been in a relationship for the past six years. Aarti used to work in a factory in Vasai East

MUMBAI: The Waliv police have arrested a 29-year-old man for allegedly killing his 22-year-old girlfriend by clobbering her repeatedly with a spanner in broad daylight on a busy road in Vasai East on Tuesday morning.

29-year-old man arrested for battering girlfriend to death with spanner on busy Vasai road

The incident took place around 9.30 am in Chinchpada, Vasai East. The accused, identified as Rohit Yadav, was following his girlfriend, Aarti Yadav, to work when he intercepted her and started assaulting her with a heavy spanner in the middle of the road. He continued battering her with the tool until she collapsed and lay motionless in a pool of blood. While the police claimed that passersby just watched and shot videos of the attack, CCTV footage shows a couple of people tried to intervene but couldn’t prevent the murder. By the time the police arrived, Aarti was dead, and Rohit was found sitting on the side of the road next to her body.

According to the police, Rohit and Aarti, both residents of Nalasopara, had been in a relationship for the past six years. Aarti used to work in a factory in Vasai East. Rohit, who is unemployed, got upset after seeing her talking to her male colleagues and suspected she was cheating on him. The couple often fought over the matter, the police said.

Aarti’s father also knew about their relationship and disapproved of it. After her father refused to allow her to marry Rohit, Aarti started ignoring his calls, which did not go well with him, the police added. Rohit then began assuming that Aarti was ignoring him because she was dating someone else.

Yadav had fought with Aarti on Saturday after seeing her coming home with her colleague on a two-wheeler, after which he had assaulted her. Aarti had then approached the Achole police station and registered a non-cognizable complaint against him. The police had given Yadav a notice under section 149 of the CrPC, which gives police officers the authority to intervene to prevent cognizable offences.

However, on Tuesday morning, when Aarti left for work, Rohit followed her. When she reached Chinchpada, he intercepted her and again confronted her with accusations of cheating on him. The two started quarrelling, even as Aarti denied the charge and told Rohit she wanted to break up with him. That’s when Rohit got agitated and took out a spanner he was carrying. He then held Aarti’s hand and started hitting her with the heavy metal tool till she collapsed, the police said. Even after she collapsed and lay motionless on the road, Rohit continued shouting her name in rage and hitting her until he was out of breath.

The Waliv police said they reached the spot within five minutes of being informed about the attack. They found Rohit sitting on the road, staring at Aarti’s body. “We arrested Yadav from the spot and recovered the spanner, which he threw on the road. We have seized a few videos and photographs shot by the onlookers and are looking for more witnesses,” said a police officer from the Waliv police station.

Rohit has been booked under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code. “He told us that he was planning to confront her. However, we suspect that Yadav was planning to kill her as he was carrying the spanner and a knife in his pocket when he met her,” added the officer.