Gurgaon CJM booked for wife's murder

The chief judicial magistrate of Gurgaon, Ravneet Garg, was booked yesterday for the murder of his wife, whose bullet-ridden body was found in the parade ground of police lines two days ago. Siddhartha Rai reports.

The chief judicial magistrate (CJM) of Gurgaon, Ravneet Garg, was booked on Saturday for the murder of his wife, whose bullet-ridden body was found in the parade ground of police lines two days ago.

In the FIR, the family of the deceased alleged that Geetanjali was murdered and had earned the wrath of her in-laws for not being able to give them a boy. It was also alleged that Geetanjali had been under pressure to undergo a sex test, in case of future pregnancy, after having delivered two girls.

The family has asked for the CBI to conduct the probe, fearing that the local police would not be able to conduct a fair investigation as Garg is the CJM.

Commissioner of police Alok Mittal acknowledged the registration of an FIR against Garg under Section 302 but ruled out any immediate possibility of an arrest – for which prior permission from the district judge and high court will be needed.

Om Parkash Aggarwal, Geetanjali’s father, said: “My daughter was under pressure to give birth to a male child. She had been depressed about it and had shared it with her sisters about four months ago. She had also told that she was being pressurised to go in for sex determination of the embryo in case of future pregnancy. My child was so vocal against female foeticide, how could she agree to such a thing?”

The FIR also alleged that Garg’s family had demanded a “lavish” wedding ceremony back in 2007 at the time of marriage and that demands regarding “valuable items/gifts were also given to them at the time of marriage and thereafter from time to time.”