Fourth suspect held for woman’s murder over dowry in Noida
Police said the suspect, identified as 38-year-old Bhupendra (single name), a resident of Deri Kambakhspur village under the jurisdiction of the Knowledge Park police station, had gone on the run after the woman’s body was discovered
Gautam Budh Nagar Police on Sunday arrested the brother-in-law of the woman, whose body was found buried in Noida’s Sector 155 on Friday, from an acquaintance’s house in Sector 150 on Sunday.
Police said the suspect, identified as 38-year-old Bhupendra (single name), a resident of Deri Kambakhspur village under the jurisdiction of the Knowledge Park police station, had gone on the run after the woman’s body was discovered, while her husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law were arrested for their alleged involvement in her murder on Saturday.
Police said he was produced before a court and sent to judicial custody on Sunday.
On March 31, a highly decomposed body of a 26-year-old woman, identified as Sarita (single name), was found buried by local residents at a vacant plot in Sector 155, barely 100 metres away from her residence at Deri Kambakhspur where she lived with her husband and in-laws.
She had been reported missing by her husband on March 9.
However, the woman’s brother Narendra (single name) filed a complaint on March 15 alleging that her husband and in-laws tortured her and demanded dowry.
Based on his complaint, an FIR under Section 365 (abduction), 498A (cruelty against women), and relevant sections of the Dowry Prohibition Act were registered on March 15 against the woman’s husband and six other relatives, said VK Singh, in charge of Knowledge Park police station.
On Friday, the woman’s body was discovered by local residents after heavy rains on Thursday washed away some dirt at the plot and exposed the body. The locals then informed the police about the body, after which police teams dug up the pit and took the body out. The police then added sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to the FIR, Singh added.
During the investigation, police found that the woman’s husband had strangled her and buried her with the help of his mother, brother, and sister-in-law. Additional deputy commissioner of police (Greater Noida) Ashok Kumar said, “Joginder, Sarita’s husband, strangled her on the night of March 8. With the help of his brother Bupendra, sister-in-law Usha and mother Santa, he took the body to a vacant Noida authority plot in Sector 155, barely 100 metres away from their home, and buried her there. They used a spade to dig a pit which has been recovered from their residence on Saturday.”
Joginder (30), Santa (52), and Usha (34) were arrested on Saturday, police said.