Daijiworld Media Network - Gurugram

Gurugram, Apr 16: In a chilling incident, a 24-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday from Haryana’s Bajghera area for allegedly murdering his 10-year-old sister-in-law and dumping her body in a sewer manhole. Police said the crime was driven by ongoing marital discord with his estranged wife.

According to officials, the girl, who lived with her parents, went missing on Saturday. Her father filed a missing complaint at Palam Vihar police station on Monday. Acting on leads, police detained the suspect, originally from Munger in Bihar, while he was attempting to flee the city on Tuesday evening.

“On his indications, the girl’s body was recovered from a manhole in Bajghera, packed in a plastic bag and wrapped in a shawl,” said Inspector Bijender Singh, SHO of Palam Vihar police station.

A housekeeping staff by profession, the accused lured the girl onto his motorcycle and took her to his rented room where he kept her confined until late evening. “Around 11 pm, he throttled her to death, packed the body, and later dumped it in a manhole nearly 1.5 km from his home,” the SHO added.

The accused had been married for six years and has a five-year-old son. However, his wife left him following disputes, which he blamed on her family. Police said he had been plotting revenge for over two months and had even attempted to strangle his mother-in-law earlier.

“The accused suspected his wife of remarrying and felt abandoned by her family. This gruesome act was a twisted attempt at vengeance,” said an officer.

The child’s body has been sent for postmortem. A medical board will also examine if she was sexually assaulted, officials confirmed.