A 24-year-old dance teacher allegedly murdered his girlfriend before hanging himself at his dance academy in South-West Delhi’s Mehrauli early on Wednesday.
The police, who are probing if a failed relationship and sudden provocation could have led to the incident, say more clarity is likely to emerge as the probe progresses. The mystery deepens as there were no eyewitnesses or suicide note.
The family of both the deceased, meanwhile, told investigators that they knew about the duo being in a relationship and had no objections to it. The deceased were last seen alive around 10 p.m. on Tuesday.
The matter came to light around 9.30 a.m. when a passerby noticed a noose-like structure hanging from a fan in the basement where Deepak, alias Sachin, ran his ABC Dance Academy.
“Taking a closer look into the upper window of the basement, he saw Sachin hanging,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police–I (South) Nupur Prasad.
With other locals and a batch of Sachin’s students coming for their morning classes, a crowd soon gathered there.
“The police was informed. When our team broke open the door, which was latched from inside, they found Sachin’s girlfriend Yogita’s body lying on the floor next to a sofa,” said Ms. Prasad.
Rose petals and candles were found at the spot.
Strangulation marks
She added that there were strangulation marks around Yogita’s neck and prima facie it appeared that she was strangulated with the cable of an extension cord.
The post mortem report of the bodies is still awaited.
Sachin, a native of Indore, had been living in Delhi for over two years. He had set up a dance academy soon after he moved to the city. Yogita, a resident of Chattarpur, had come to the academy as a student three months ago. The two fell in love soon after, recalled Sachin’s friend, Mukul.
Mukul, who was a former partner in the academy, said Sachin had confided in him about Yogita’s family wanting her to get married to someone else. However, he said that he hadn’t spoken to Sachin since a month.
Sachin’s cousin Meena, who lives close to the academy near Mehrauli’s IGNOU road, could not reveal much about what was on his mind. His last status update on WhatsApp read “ Ik galti fir se ho gyi trust (It was a mistake to trust (sic)”, followed by crying emojis.
She had last met Sachin a week ago. Till then all was good between him and Yogita, said Meena.
The girl’s family, too, appeared to be on the same page with regard to their marriage, at least in their purported disclosure before the police. “They told us that they were aware about the two being in a relationship and that they were fine with it,” said Ms. Prasad.
Yogita never went to college and took up short term assignments after finishing school a few years ago.
The family of both the deceased said they knew about the duo being in a relationship and had no objections to it
