A 24-year-old woman and her minor son were smothered to death allegedly by her physically-challenged husband at Rohini here in the early hours of Friday. The accused has been arrested.
Nitin Maini allegedly smothered his wife Shweta and five-year-old son Garv a few hours after the couple celebrated their sixth marriage anniversary. He then made a call to the Police Control Room saying that he had murdered his wife and son. When the local police reached the spot, they had to break open the door to the couple's room and found Nitin sitting on the bed alongside the bodies of his wife and son with a blanket pulled over them.Nitin allegedly stabbed himself with scissors in an attempt to end his life in the presence of the police. He has been admitted to a hospital and is said to be out of danger.
Nitin, who was bed-ridden following an accident three years ago, stayed in the house with his wife, son and parents. Nitin and Shweta, who belonged to different castes, had married against the wishes of their parents six years ago. But the two families accepted them with the passage of time. The relation between the couple soured after Nitin sustained injuries in the accident and Shweta had to take up odd jobs for their sustenance.
Nitin purportedly told the police that he suspected Shweta of having an extra-marital affair, but Shewta's parents alleged that Shweta and her son were nominees to the Rs.21 lakh compensation received by Nitin for the accident and that they could have been murdered for the money. They also alleged that Nitin being physically disabled could not have committed the murders alone and more persons were involved.
Nitin's parents suspect that Shweta probably poisoned her son to death before committing suicide.
“Going by the investigation so far, it does not seem to be a suicide. Also, the compensation money does not seem to be the motive. We expect the post-mortem report to throw more light on the case,” said a senior police officer.
