Mumbai: YouTuber arrested over death of his wife

The police had initially registered a case of accidental death, but following the complaint by Komal Agarwal’s mother and sister, a case of abetment to suicide, culpable homicide not amounting to murder and assault along with intimidation against filed her husband Jitendra.

A well-known YouTuber was arrested by Bhandup police on Sunday night after his wife’s family alleged that she had been killed by the accused.

“We have arrested Jitendra and are investigating the case. We are waiting for the post-mortem report to find out whether she was killed and then hanged or was forced to hang herself,” said Sham Shinde, senior inspector, Bhandup police station. (Bloomberg/For Representative Purposes Only)

According to police, the victim, Komal Agarwal, was found dead at her house where she lived with her husband.

The police had initially registered a case of accidental death, but following the complaint by Agarwal’s mother and sister, a case of abetment to suicide, culpable homicide not amounting to murder and assault along with intimidation against filed her husband Jitendra under sections 304, 323, 306 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code.

Agarwal had allegedly eloped with Jitendra, popularly known as Jeetu Jaan, on March 4 this year after knowing each other for around two months, which offended her parents and siblings. Her mother Sheela Pathak told the police that after her wedding, Agarwal was assaulted by Jitendra regularly over house work.

The accused had allegedly told Agarwal to stop calling her sister Priya after finding out that she complained to her about the physical abuse.

Agarwal allegedly complained of assault three times to her sister and her friend Meena and she once also left the house. “If Jitendra had physically abused Komal so many times, it is not difficult to imagine that he may have killed her,” said Priya.

Pathak said that they learnt about the demise of Agarwal on May 27 when Bhandup police informed them that Agarwal had hanged herself. The family then approached the police saying they suspected Jitendra.

“We have arrested Jitendra and are investigating the case. We are waiting for the post-mortem report to find out whether she was killed and then hanged or was forced to hang herself,” said Sham Shinde, senior inspector, Bhandup police station.