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Woman held for killing husband due to ‘unhappiness’, tried to pass off as suicide

She told police that her husband was unable to sexually satisfy her, was heavily in debt due to online gambling. She was having an affair with his cousin.

Updated on: Jul 23, 2025, 06:41:09 IST
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A 29-year-old woman was apprehended on Tuesday for allegedly murdering her 32-year-old husband and initially attempting to pass it off as suicide, police said. The incident took place on Sunday evening in outer Delhi’s Nihal Vihar.

When confronted with the evidence, Farzana allegedly broke down and confessed to her husband's murder. (Representative)
When confronted with the evidence, Farzana allegedly broke down and confessed to her husband's murder. (Representative)

Later, after police confronted her with her suspicious search history on phone, purportedly “on ways to kill a person”, the accused, identified as Farzana Khan, allegedly confessed that she killed her husband, Mohammed Shahid alias Irfan, as she was dissatisfied with their relationship.

She told investigators that Shahid was unable to sexually satisfy her, was heavily in debt due to online gambling, and that she was also having an affair with his cousin.

According to police, the couple hailed from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. On Sunday evening, police were alerted by Sanjay Gandhi Hospital about a man who had been brought in dead. Shahid’s brother, who had taken him to the hospital, reportedly told police that Farzana claimed that Shahid took his own life because of his gambling-related debts.

However, police grew suspicious after noticing three stab wounds on the body. “The wife told us he stabbed himself, as he was under stress due to gambling losses,” said a senior officer. But the postmortem examination, conducted on Monday, pointed to murder. “The doctors informed us that the wounds were inconsistent with suicide. One of them was fatal and could not have been self-inflicted,” the officer added.

With suspicions mounting, police examined Farzana’s phone. “We found internet search history related to “ways of killing someone using sleeping pills (sulphas), and how to delete chat histories”,” said the officer. “This further pointed to pre-meditation.”

When confronted with the evidence, Farzana allegedly broke down and confessed to the murder. “She said she was unhappy in the marriage — both with their physical relationship and with the financial strain caused by his gambling. She also admitted to having an affair with her husband’s cousin, who lives in Bareilly,” the officer said.

Farzana was apprehended on Tuesday, and further investigation is underway.

  • Hemani Bhandari
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Hemani Bhandari

    Hemani Bhandari is a Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in New Delhi, where she reports on crime, policing, governance and social issues. With over a decade of experience in journalism, she specialises in combining on-ground reporting with evidence-based storytelling to examine the human impact of public policy, law enforcement and urban governance. Over the years, she has reported extensively on major developments in the capital, including crime investigations, civic challenges, protests, and issues affecting vulnerable communities. As a Special Correspondent, she focuses on producing exclusive investigations, enterprise stories and long-form features that go beyond daily news cycles. She has a keen interest in using public records, official data and field reporting to uncover systemic issues and present complex subjects in an accessible manner. A graduate of the Asian College of Journalism, Hemani believes in rigorous, ethical and evidence-based reporting. She is passionate about investigative journalism and continuously seeks to expand her skills in data journalism, open-source investigations and digital reporting techniques.Read More

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