‘Nagpur doctor, 52, killed wife, staged murder to look like robbery gone wrong’

Dr Anil Rahule (52) and his brother, Raju Rahule (48), a farmer from Khairlanji village in Bhandara district, were arrested on Sunday

NAGPUR: A 52-year-old doctor and his younger brother last week allegedly killed his wife over suspicions that she was cheating on him, staged the house to make it look like a robbery and pretended to discover the murder three days later after returning from Raipur on Saturday, police said.

The victim, Dr Archana Rahule was the senior assistant professor in the physiotherapy department at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur. (Getty Images)

Dr Anil Rahule (52) and his brother, Raju Rahule (48), a farmer from Khairlanji village in Bhandara district, were arrested on Sunday after investigators spotted gaps in his statements and found that his phone was pinging mobile towers in Nagpur on April 9, the day of the murder, though he claimed to be in Raipur.

His wife, Dr Archana Rahule was the senior assistant professor in the physiotherapy department at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Nagpur. She had been living alone in Nagpur while her husband worked in Raipur and their son was a third-year medicine student in Pune.

“Our preliminary investigation suggests the motive was Anil’s deep mistrust and jealousy. We are also examining if there were any other contributing factors,” Nagpur commissioner of police Ravinder Singhal said.

Initially, Anil told the police that he saw his wife lying dead when he returned from Raipur at 9:30 pm on April 12 and the house appeared ransacked, suggesting that Archana may have been killed during a robbery gone wrong.

The Hudkeshwar police, which was investigating the police, said there were inconsistencies in Anil’s statements. Like he claimed that there were no problems between the two but could not explain why he did not contact his wife for the three days that she had been dead.

An analysis of his phone’s location also revealed that he was in Nagpur on April 9 though he had claimed to have been in Raipur.

Also, it turned out that Archana had spoken about the problems in her marriage to her younger sister, Dr Nima Sonare (43), and also the threats that Anil made. Police said the doctor also assaulted his wife.

Anil was home on April 9 when they had another bitter argument. At one point, Anil decided to kill her and asked his brother Raju to come over. When he came, Anil held Archana by her legs while Raju struck her on the head with an iron rod. Police said she died on the spot. The two men staged the house to make it look like the house was ransacked and fled.

The murder came to light only when Anil returned and raised an alarm. Neighbours said they heard his loud cries and rushed to the house. Someone informed the police.

“We have taken both Anil and Raju into custody for further questioning. Investigations also revealed that the two brothers had been exchanging encrypted messages for several months, suggesting the murder was planned well in advance,” said senior inspector Bhedodkar.