A 40-year-old woman was strangulated by her husband after she refused to give him a divorce, the police said on Friday. The 52-year-old accused, Abdul Hakim Ansari, was arrested on Thursday, they said.
An unidentified woman’s body was found lying in a Moradabad passenger train coach at the Old Delhi railway station yard on July 7, the police said. On July 23, the victim was identified as Meshar Jahan by Ansari.
Missing complaint
“The husband claimed he had lodged a missing report at Uttam Nagar police station on July 7. The couple got married six years ago. The body was handed over to the family after the post-mortem. The autopsy report revealed that the woman had died due to strangulation and asphyxiation. A case of murder was registered,” said DCP (Railways) Dinesh Kumar Gupta.
During investigation, the husband was asked about his whereabouts on the day his wife went missing. He was unable to give satisfactory answers.
The investigators found that his phone was switched off for nearly eight hours that day. Suspicious, the investigators decided to quiz him further.
“Ansari, who belongs to Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, owns a small shop in Uttam Nagar. He revealed that he had been married thrice. Meshar was his third wife. He said his married life was not okay. His first wife stays in Moradabad with their two children. He divorced his second wife after two years of marriage. Then, he married Meshar. He wanted a divorce as he had planned to settle with another woman,” said a police officer.
He asked Meshar for a divorce but she refused and threatened to file a case of triple talaq against him if he put pressure on her. The police also said that Ansari had purchased a life insurance policy in Meshar’s name.
“Ansari filed a missing complaint and tried to mislead the police. However, he broke down during questioning and revealed that he took Meshar to Simbhaoli in Uttar Pradesh on July 6 on the pretext of getting her leg treated. After visiting a doctor, they boarded the Moradabad passenger train to Delhi,” Mr. Gupta said.
Before reaching Ghaziabad, when Meshar was asleep and the coach was empty, Ansari strangulated her with her dupatta. He then threw her dupatta and slippers, and got off the train at Vivek Vihar railway station, Mr. Gupta added.
