Ghaziabad: Woman murders 11-year-old stepson, dumps body in septic tank

The incident was reported from Govindpuri locality where the victim boy, Shabd Sain, lives with his father Rahul Sain and stepmother, Rekha, said police

A 32-year-old woman in Ghaziabad’s Modinagar allegedly murdered her 11-year-old stepson and dumped his body, with stones tied to weigh it down, in a septic tank located behind the house, the police said on Tuesday, adding that they arrested the suspect woman and also her 30-year-old woman neighbour who allegedly aided her in the crime.

Police arrested the suspect woman and also her 30-year-old woman neighbour who allegedly aided her in the crime. (Representative Image)

The incident was reported from Govindpuri locality where the victim boy, Shabd Sain, lives with his father Rahul Sain and stepmother, Rekha, said police.

The police said Shabd was born to Sain’s first wife Raj Kumari and both got separated in 2020 after their relationship soured. After the separation, Shabd stayed with his father while his minor sister went with their mother.

Sain’s second wife Rekha, who hails from Baghpat, too was separated from her husband and she has a minor daughter with him.

Both Sain and Rekha got married in December 2020 and thereafter, Rekha and her minor daughter moved to Modinagar to live with Sain and Shabd.

The police said Shabd studied in class 3 and went missing around 3pm on Sunday. After his father returned from work late Sunday night, Rekha told him that Shabd had gone out to play in the afternoon and never returned.

“A search by the family proved futile and they approached the police on Monday. An initial case of abduction was registered at Modinagar police station and investigation was launched. The police scanned CCTV footage from nearby areas and concluded that Shabd entered the house around 3pm and did not step out after that. This put the suspicion on Rekha and she broke down and admitted that she had murdered her stepson,” said Vivek Chandra Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (rural).

Apart from the couple, Rahul’s father Mahipal Singh and mother Poonam Devi also stayed in the same house along with Rahul’s brother Rohit Sain and wife Chanchal.

The police said that Rahul, Mahipal and Rohit had gone out for work on the day of the incident while Chanchal had gone to visit her parents. Poonam Devi also stepped out around 3pm on Sunday.

The police said this gave ample opportunity to Rekha to murder Shabd as they were the only two people in the house.

“Rekha told police she called her friend Poonam Devi to her house. Rekha then strangulated the boy with a dupatta with Poonam’s help,who held the boy down by his hands and legs. Once the boy fell lifeless, the two tied heavy stone to the boy’s waist and legs and threw the body into the septic tank behind the house and put with stone slab back,” Yadav said.

After scanning the CCTV footage, police searched the house and noticed that the stone slab covering the septic tank was disturbed.

“When the police uncovered the tank, they found the boy’s body inside. Rekha told police that her relations with the boy were not cordial and he often misbehaved with her. Further, she also wanted to get rid of him as he was the only heir to the parental property and Rekha wanted her minor daughter to inherit,” Yadav said.

The police said during questioning on Monday night, Rekha also named Poonam Devi as her aide in the murder. The DCP said both Rekha and Poonam were arrested under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence).