A 31-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly killing his wife and their one-and-a-half-year-old son in the presence of his other two sons in Northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area on Monday night.
Police said the accused, Om Prakash, suspected his wife of infidelity and thought that his youngest son had been fathered by someone else.
On Tuesday morning, the bodies of Shobha and her son were found with multiple stab wounds on the first floor of their slum.
Shobha’s two elder children, aged seven and four, were in trauma and fear since they had seen their father killing their mother and sibling.
A senior officer said that Shobha had got married to Om Prakash on May 11, 2005 and the couple was having strained relations since then. Om Prakash doubted her and the couple had regular fights. Shobha had even left him and had moved to her parents' house in Haiderpur.
She had even filed a case of dowry harassment against her husband but the couple had reached an out-of-court settlement.
When she was staying at her parents’ house, Prakash used to visit her to meet his children. Police said that Prakash was fond of his two elder children but did not love his youngest son.
It was around a week back that he asked his wife to return home with the children on the insistence of his family members. Police said Prakash had made a plan to get rid of his wife and son five-six days ago. Prakash, who worked as a house painter, had stolen a dagger from the house where he was employed five-six days ago. On the night of January 15, when Shobha and her children were sleeping inside their room, Prakash stabbed the two with a dagger and also hit them with a hammer.
After committing the crime, Prakash slept through the night along with the dead bodies of his wife and son, said Aslam Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest).
In the early morning hours, he left his shanty and fled from there leaving behind his dead wife and the youngest son and two other sons who were sleeping in the same room, added Khan. Eight teams were formed under the leadership of AK lall, additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) to nab the accused.
Police teams raided several locations in and outside Delhi which included railway stations, bus stations, and other possible hideouts of the accused. His close relatives and friends were also questioned about his whereabouts, said the officer.
Police said the accused did not have a cell phone and it was difficult to trace his location. On Wednesday morning, Prakash was nabbed from Khera Kalan Railway Station following a tip-off. He was planning to go to a distant location to evade arrest.