A 19-year-old boy has been arrested for allegedly burning alive his married girlfriend’s husband at a park in North-East Delhi’s Nand Nagri on Friday night.
The victim, auto rickshaw driver Vinod Khandelwal, had frequent fights with the accused Sonu after Vinod’s wife left home to live with him. It is alleged that Sonu’s brother-in-law had helped him in the crime and is absconding.
According to the police, Sonu was in an illicit relationship with Vinod’s wife. On February 19, the woman abandoned her husband and started living with Sonu. Her, husband, however, filed a missing complaint.
Vinod had told police that he suspected Sonu of abducting his wife. When the police contacted her, she had said that she was living with Sonu of her own free will. Despite this, Vinod would frequent Sonu’s home and would quarrel with him.
Angry over his frequent visits, Sonu hatched a plan with his brother-in-law to eliminate him. On Friday around 10.30 p.m., Vinod was sitting in a local park near his home when Sonu along with his brother-in-law came there. They had with them two white plastic bottles filled with kerosene. “An argument broke out between then and as the argument turned violent, Sonu’s brother-in-law overpowered Vinod and Sonu poured kerosene on him and set him ablaze. Before the locals could come and help, Vinod had sustained 80 per cent burns,” said a police officer.
Vinod was rushed to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on Saturday night. His body was handed over to his family after autopsy on Monday.
Vinod’ family has alleged that inaction by the local police had led to his murder. They claimed that on February 26, 27, and 28, Vinod had posted on Facebook that the police was not taking his wife’s missing complaint seriously. Senior officers, however, refuted the allegations saying his wife was staying with Sonu of her own free will.
