An 18-year-old woman was allegedly strangled to death in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur, and her body set ablaze after being doused in kerosene in order to destroy evidence, police said on Wednesday.
The victim’s fiancé, his lover and the lover’s mother have been arrested in connection with the with the incident, PTI news agency quoted police as saying.
The victim, identified as Shalimunish, got engaged to 22-year-old Imran a few months ago, Superintendent of Police (SP) Vikas Kumar said. While Shalimunish was a resident of Laldeeh Hussainabad Grant area, Imran lived in Chhapia in neighbouring Gonda district.
Imran had allegedly developed a relationship with another woman, Sakina, through social media. When his fiancé, Shalimunish, came to know about the affair, she objected, following which the three accused allegedly conspired to kill her, SP Kumar told PTI.
Following this, Sakina called Shalimunish to her house on Tuesday, with Imran already being present there, police said. Both Sakina and Imran then strangled the victim to death.
According to the officer, Imran, Sakina and her mother Zainab attempted to conceal the crime and make it look like a case of suicide by allegedly pouring kerosene on the body and setting it on fire, PTI reported.
A case was registered at the Rehra Bazar police station under relevant sections, and the body of the victim was sent for a post-mortem examination.
In a similar incident of brutal murder from UP, a woman and her alleged lover were arrested for the murder of her husband in Sambhal district. Both accused killed the victim and dismembered his body reportedly using a wood grinder, according to a PTI report.
The accused, Ruby, had filed a missing person complaint on November 18 stating that her husband, Rahul (38), had not returned home. However, nearly a month after this, police recovered a mutilated body from a drain near the Eidgah area on December 15.