8 months into marriage, husband kills wife in Thane

A civil engineer allegedly killed his 23-year-old wife at their residence in Vasant Vihar, Thane on Monday. Twenty-four-year-old Siddhesh Dalvi was arrested by the Vartak Nagar police on Tuesday. Though Dalvi claimed that his wife Sushmita committed suicide, circumstantial and medical evidence suggested murder.

A civil engineer allegedly killed his 23-year-old wife at their residence in Vasant Vihar, Thane on Monday. Twenty-four-year-old Siddhesh Dalvi was arrested by the Vartak Nagar police on Tuesday. Though Dalvi claimed that his wife Sushmita committed suicide, circumstantial and medical evidence suggested murder.

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"Siddhesh told us that he had gone out around 11:30am to buy biscuits. When he returned, he found his wife hanging by a t-shirt from the ceiling fan," said senior police inspector NN Kakad. Siddhesh claimed to have brought her body down. "However, blood was oozing from her nose and mouth and her face was blackened."

Though the police initially registered a case of accidental death, they found it hard to digest that the deceased used a T-shirt to hang herself from the fan. The blood was another giveaway. "The T-shirt is too short to be used for hanging and even the fan was intact. The post-mortem report states that she died due to smothering and strangulation," said Kakad. Police later arrested Siddhesh for murder. He was produced in court and has been remanded to police custody till September 5.