Man held for killing wife, passing it off as suicide

A 30-year-old man was arrested two days after he allegedly killed his wife and tried to pass it off as suicide by hanging her body from a ceiling fan in their house

A 30-year-old man was arrested two days after he allegedly killed his wife and tried to pass it off as suicide by hanging her body from a ceiling fan in their house in IMT Manesar on Sunday night, said the police.

HT Image

According to the police, they received a complaint from Ranjeet Kumar, brother of the deceased, on Sunday, levelling murder charges against his brother-in-law whose name also happens to be Ranjeet Kumar. According to the police, the husband hails from Madhepura in Bihar.

The suspect works as a security guard in Sector 7 of IMT Manesar and had retuned from his village two months ago. The police said he had shifted to his home town during lockdown and returned with his wife in October.

Subhash Boken, spokesperson, Gururgam Police, said that the brother received a call on Saturday that his sister had committed suicide and had been declared dead upon arrival in a private hospital in IMT Manesar. “The brother, who works in Chandigarh, boarded a bus for Gurugram within half-an-hour after hearing the news. When he reached the city, his brother-in-law requested him to cremate the body without waiting for the autopsy report,” he said.

Dr Deepak Mathur, forensic expert, who conducted the autopsy, said that the cause of death was asphyxia following ante-mortem strangulation. “The deceased was strangulated and had marks on the neck. She was later hanged to pass it off as a suicide case,” he said.

The police said the suspect had a strained relationship with his wife. She was found hanging in her house in Manesar and the suspect had claimed she committed suicide, said the police.

However, the woman’s family alleged that she was murdered by the suspect after the investigating officer informed them of the post-mortem report. A case of murder was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by the woman’s brother and an investigation launched, the police said.

During questioning, the suspect allegedly admitted to have murdered his wife. He hanged her body from the ceiling fan to make it look like a suicide, police said.

The police said the couple was married for five years and has a three-year-old daughter, who lives with her grandparents in Bihar.