21-year-old Delhi University student was allegedly strangled to death on February 2 by her boyfriend, who then hid the body at his residence in north-west Delhi’s Model Town for four days.
Accused Naveen Khatri, who married another girl after the murder, had stashed away victim Arzoo Singh Chauhan’s body in a shaft next to the room he occupied with his wife.
Arzoo’s decomposed body was found on Sunday in the shaft on the first floor of the house where the accused lives with his family. Arzoo was a final year student at Lakshmibai College, while Naveen works as a property dealer.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (North West) Vijay Singh said that Naveen was detained on Saturday after the family of the girl expressed the possibility of him having abducted the girl. He reportedly confessed to his crime during interrogation.
“On February 2, he went to Arzoo’s college to pick her up. They went to a mall in Saket and other places when Naveen disclosed his plans of distributing cards for his upcoming wedding. Though she knew that he was going to marry someone else, Arzoo was infuriated over Naveen seeking her help in distributing cards. An argument had ensued between them,” said Mr. Singh.
It was late last year that both the families mutually agreed that Arzoo and Naveen could not get married since they were from the same village.
However, the duo did not end their relationship. Investigators said that the relationship being kept under wraps was often the cause of arguments between the couple and that the situation turned ugly after Naveen announced his marriage.
On the day of the incident, Naveen felt threatened as Arzoo threatened to make their relationship public and also tell his fiancée about it.
Sources say that the 21-year-old victim was pregnant — another secret she threatened to reveal. Police, however, said they are awaiting the post-mortem report.
“After his efforts to convince Arzoo failed, Naveen drove to an isolated stretch in Nangal Dawat village, close to the airport. He strangulated her with a dupatta before stuffing the body in the boot of the car,” said Mr. Singh.
Police said that since Naveen did not find a suitable place to dump the body, he brought it home around 7 p.m on February 2.
“He woke up around 3 a.m. on February 3 when his family was asleep. He placed the body on the grill of the ventilation shaft,” said Mr. Singh
While Arzoo’s family claimed that Naveen’s family is also involved in the murder, the police said that there was no evidence linking them to the case yet.
In fact, Mr. Singh said that Naveen’s family had claimed that they were unaware about the presence of the body.
What remains to be looked into is how the decomposing body went unnoticed despite the stench and the fact that shaft grills are usually visible from the higher or lower floors.
