A plumber thrashed his wife to death and then decapitated her body to avoid identification, at his residence in east Delhi's Madhu Vihar. Afraid of getting caught, he kept the body at home for nearly two days over the past weekend.
Suspicion of affair
The accused Subodh (40) has been arrested and he purportedly confessed that he suspected his first wife Manisha (35) of cheating on him and this led to the murder, said the police.
Subodh's second wife Muniya and his three children from two marriages were witness to the crime, they said.
Threatens children
“His family members have told us that he beat Manisha through the intervening night of February 10 and 11. Their children tried to intervene but he threatened them too,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Ombir Singh Bishnoi.
Manisha and her two children lived in north-west Delhi's Shakurpur while Subodh lived with Muniya and their only child in Chandra Vihar area of Madhu Vihar.
“He had called Manisha to his house on Friday and we suspect that this was only because he intended to kill her. Once there, he kept thrashing her, so much so that she fell unconscious and spiked a fever. He even called an unregistered medical practitioner in his locality on Saturday night and arranged for treatment. However, he continued to hit her as soon as the doctor left,” said Mr. Bishnoi. It is suspected that the woman died on Saturday afternoon. It has been alleged that the man beat Muniya as well.
“He was wary of taking the body outside. To ease the process, he first decapitated her using a pipe cutter that he used for his plumbing work. He stuffed the head in a bag and hanged it on one of the walls,” said Mr. Bishnoi.
Neighbour notices smell
On Monday afternoon, a neighbour noticed a foul smell emanating from the house and informed the police. Police sources said that after murdering Manisha, he asked his second wife and children to leave the house.
Body at home for 40 hours
“We are waiting for the autopsy report but we suspect that he spent at least 40 hours living with the decapitated body, consuming alcohol and smoking casually as if nothing had happened,” said Mr. Bishnoi.
A case of murder has been registered at the Madhu Vihar Police station. The police were verifying his claims and said so far nothing has come up to suggest that Muniya was also part of the conspiracy.
