Delhi: Woman strangles husband to death to ‘live with her lover’

The woman’s cell phone call detail revealed she was in touch with an occultist from Bihar with whom she was in a relationship.

A woman, who killed her husband and tried to pass off the murder as a natural death, was arrested on Monday. Police said Aruna, 37, laced her husband’s food with sleeping pills and strangled him in his sleep. Aruna’s accomplice Sanjeev Paswan, an occultist, with whom she allegedly had an affair, has also been arrested.

The cause of death was revealed to be asphyxia due to strangulation. (Shutterstock)

Deputy commissioner of police (South) Ishwar Singh said that on April 7, police received information from AIIMS about the death of Nathuni, 54. His son had brought him to the hospital and informed doctors that Nathuni died while he was asleep next to Aruna. Nathuni worked as a gardener at AIIMS. This was his second marriage.

None of the relatives suspected foul play. “Aruna told us she was sleeping next to him and appeared to be in shock and unable to explain what had happened. The post-mortem was conducted at AIIMS and the body was handed over to the family members,” said Singh.

Singh said that when police received the post-mortem report on May 12, the cause of death was revealed to be asphyxia due to strangulation. A murder case was then registered at the Defence Colony police station.

Neighbours also told police that the couple had regular fights. Technical analysis led police to the discovery of a cell phone number that Aruna had not told police about. The phone was active minutes before Nathuni’s death.

“The cell phone’s call detail analysis revealed Aruna was in touch with an occultist from Muzaffarnagar in Bihar. When she was confronted with this piece of evidence, she broke down and disclosed of her relationship with the occultist Sanjeev and their murder plot,” said Singh.