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Ghaziabad man, 82, kills wife with axe over suspected affair with son-in-law; takes weapon to police to surrender
Police said the 82-year-old suspected his wife of having an affair with her son-in-law, which led to disputes.
An 82-year-old man bludgeoned his 75-year-old wife to death with an axe while she was asleep in Muradnagar in Ghaziabad on Saturday and then surrendered at a police post with the murder weapon, officials said.
Police identified the suspect as Harpal Singh and the woman as Urmila Devi. Officials said the incident happened around 3:30am at their house in Rawli, Muradnagar.
According to police, the duo had been living at their married daughter’s house for the past six months. At the time of the incident, their elder daughter’s two children, aged 14 and 11, were also home, police added.
Police said the 82-year-old suspected his wife of having an affair with her son-in-law, which led to disputes.
“The woman was sleeping early Saturday morning, and her husband pulled out an axe from the house and landed multiple blows on her head and face, severely injuring her. Then, the suspect walked to the nearest police station with the weapon and told policemen he should be arrested for murdering his wife,” ACP (Modinagar) Bhaskar Verma told HT.
Officials said the police post is about a kilometre from the house.
The ACP added, “Police rushed her to a hospital, but she was declared dead. The body had multiple injuries and was sent for autopsy. The suspect was arrested following a complaint by the couple’s daughter.”
Prem Singh, the son-in-law of the deceased, told HT: “My wife and I had gone to attend a family function in Meerut and our two children and my in-laws were at home. After learning about the incident early Saturday, we rushed home and found that half of my mother-in-law’s face was completely crushed from the attack. The two often disputed trifle matters, but we did not expect my father-in-law would take such a drastic step.”
According to officials, the couple has two married daughters and a son, who died about five years ago in Ludhiana.
“The elder daughter of the deceased and the suspect filed a formal complaint and an FIR under BNS Section 103(1) (murder) was registered against Harpal Singh. He was formally arrested upon complaint. He told police that his wife was sleeping in one bed while he was sleeping on the other. Early in the morning, he woke up and pulled out an axe kept at home. He then landed multiple blows on his sleeping wife,” Gopal Chauhan, senior sub-inspector of Muradnagar police station, told HT.
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