In a shocking incident of domestic violence, a 30-year-old auto-rickshaw driver, Prashant, murdered his 28-year-old wife, Neha, by slitting her throat with a knife in the Thakurdwara area of Baghpat. The horrific crime occurred on Wednesday morning while the victim was alone at her mother’s house.
A chilling video of the incident has surfaced on social media, showing the accused talking to someone on the phone after the dastardly attack.
"Mere hote hue kisi aur se baat kar le... maine ye baat isse usi din keh di thi jis din shadi kari thi. Maine kaha tha, 'Neha, jis din dekh lunga, jaan se maar dunga,'" (If she talks to someone else while I’m around... I told her this on the very day we got married. I said, "Neha, the day I find out, I’ll kill you.”) the man can be heard saying over the phone.
According to reports, after committing the murder, the accused paced near the body for around 15 minutes before calling his mother. "I'm not weak. I've killed her and thrown her away. Now I'm going to the police station," he allegedly told her.
The couple had married eight years ago after a love affair and have a four-year-old son, who reportedly witnessed the murder. Neha, originally from Saharanpur, had previously run a beauty parlour before taking up a factory job. The family lived in rented accommodation with Prashant’s mother.
Neighbours reported frequent arguments between the couple, with Prashant suspecting his wife of having an extramarital affair. Tired of the constant fighting, Neha had recently moved in with her mother, Ranjita, in another rented house in the same locality.
"On the day we married, I told her not to speak to anyone else. The day I catch you doing something wrong, I'll kill you. I don’t care about punishment," Prashant was heard saying in a video recorded by a neighbour.
Eyewitnesses described a gruesome scene, with Prashant first attacking Neha’s hands, cutting her fingers as she tried to defend herself, before slitting her throat.
Ranjita, the victim’s mother, told police that Prashant regularly abused her daughter under the influence of alcohol and had previously threatened to kill her. Despite Neha filing a police complaint 20 days ago, expressing fears for her life, no effective action was taken.
City Inspector Dixit Kumar Tyagi confirmed the arrest of the accused, who has confessed to the crime. Police have recovered the murder weapon and are continuing their investigation. The couple’s son has been placed with relatives.
