NAVI MUMBAI: A 36-year-old man, already convicted for murdering his girlfriend’s uncle in 2018 and out on bail, was again arrested for allegedly killing his girlfriend on Monday when an argument broke out between the two and he strangled her to death in a fit of rage.
According to police, the accused, Dattaram Nagu Pingla, had been in a relationship with Archana for over two decades. In 2018, Archana’s uncle, Tukaram Sajanya Naik, opposed their relationship, after which he got her married to Chandrakant Ashok Naik. However, she soon returned to her uncle’s house and never stayed with Naik, said a police officer.
Harboring resentment, Pingla murdered Naik in 2018 and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He later secured bail during the pendency of his appeal in the Bombay High Court, after which he kept in touch with Archana, the police said.
“On Monday at 8 pm, Pingla visited Archana at her mother’s house in Diviwadi, where an argument broke out between them and in a fit of rage, Pingla strangled Archana with a rope and fled,” the officer added.
“The next morning, when her sister, Darshana Kishor Naik, 39, arrived, she found Archana lying motionless. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was declared dead. The police were alerted, and a manhunt was launched to find Pingla,” said the investigating officer of the case.
Pingla was arrested later that night in the forest area, after which a case was registered by the Revdanda police against him under Section 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.