Woman arrested for killing live-in partner in Dongri

In Mumbai, Riyana Swarakiya was arrested for murdering her boyfriend Arafat Khan, 26, and staging it as suicide after he was found dead.

MUMBAI: After the body of a 26-year-old man, suspected to have died by suicide, was found in Dongri on Friday, his live-in partner was arrested on Saturday for murdering him and passing it off as suicide.

Woman arrested for killing live-in partner in Dongri

The body of the deceased, Arafat Mehboob Khan, was discovered at Bisti Mohalla by his family on Friday. “I got the call from my cousin Adiba that he was lying outside his house. I rushed him to JJ Hospital, where doctors declared him dead,” said Noman Khan, 21-year-old brother of Arafat.

Noman said his brother was in love with Riyana Swarakiya, 35. He used to live with his father and younger sister, but left them to live with his girlfriend and her child from a previous relationship. “Arafat said he will return home only if the family accepts her and her child,” Noman said.

The police had sent Arafat’s body for a post-mortem and learned that he had been asphyxiated to death. “The report said there was a ligature compression of his neck (unnatural), and a final opinion is reserved for the accessory examination report,” said a police officer.

After this, the Dongri police immediately registered a case for murder under Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. “We questioned Riyana, and she broke down, telling us he was a drug addict and had taken ₹1.5 lakh from her. He was very possessive about her, and so she tried to get rid of him,” said the officer.

Riyana murdered her boyfriend by strangling him and later tried to hang his body. She even tied a rope around his neck but could not lift him, so she told the police that he had hanged himself, and she removed his body, the officer added.

“We are further questioning her to find if more people are involved,” said the officer.