Strangulation, then an oil pour and a murder staged to look as accidental death -- a woman in Delhi used her forensic science knowledge to the best of her abilities, not for her academic growth, but to plot her live-in partner's brutal death.
The 21-year-old woman had just recently found out that her live-in partner recorded obscene videos of her and stored them on a hard disk. Miffed with his refusal to delete them, the "trapped and angry" woman contacted her ex, who became her happy helper in plotting the partner's murder.
The murder of the UPSC aspirant, who was in a live-in relationship with the accused, took place in the early hours of October 6.
Murder staged as death in fire
To orchestrate the murder plot, the woman took help from her ex and another associate. She was a BSc forensic science student from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, and had been in a relationship with the victim since May this year.
Using her forensic science knowledge, the woman allegedly plotted her partner's murder, and her ex-boyfriend's knowledge on how to manipulate a gas cylinder came in handy.
{{/usCountry}}Using her forensic science knowledge, the woman allegedly plotted her partner's murder, and her ex-boyfriend's knowledge on how to manipulate a gas cylinder came in handy.
{{/usCountry}}“On the night of October 5, the trio visited the victim’s flat, where they allegedly strangled and beat him to death before pouring oil and alcohol over the body. The ex-boyfriend, who works as an LPG gas distributor in Moradabad, then set up the scene for a fire," a senior police officer told HT.
The accused allegedly also poured ghee on the victim after his murder, reported news agency PTI. The incident took place in Timarpur’s Gandhi Vihar in the city.
According to police, not only did the woman have good knowledge of forensics, she also took keen interest in crime shows. Her ex-boyfriend used his own expertise on cylinders to manipulate one at the victim's residence on the day of the crime. "They opened the regulator and ignited the fire using a lighter, leaving the cylinder near the victim’s head,” the officer said. “About an hour later, the cylinder exploded, and the body was completely charred.”
Woman's obscene videos of victim's phone?
The accused woman and the victim met in May and had been in a live-in relationship in Delhi. During the relationship, the victim reportedly recorded obscene videos of the woman and saved them on a hard disk. “When she found out and asked him to delete them, he refused and even fabricated stories to humiliate her,” said a senior police officer, further adding that the woman, "feeling trapped and enraged, turned to her ex-boyfriend, who then plotted revenge.”
While police confirmed that the woman had once pursued a forensic science course, they also said that she later shifted to a computer science course. " She knew how to mislead investigators and planned the fire to destroy evidence,” said an officer.
How cops found out it was murder
While it initially appeared that the victim was killed in an accidental fire, police's suspicions grew after CCTV footage from the area was accessed.
Footage showed two people entering the building before the fire and one woman leaving shortly before. The woman was later identified as the victim's live-in partner. All the accused were later traced using call detail records, and technical surveillance, and were arrested just days apart -- the woman on October 18, her ex on October 21, and another associate on October 23.
Cops also recovered the hard disk containing the purportedly obscene videos, a trolley bag, the victim's shirt, and the mobile phones used during the crime.
(With inputs from Hemani Bhandari)