A 30-year-old man killed his wife and their infant daughter before throwing the woman’s body from the first floor of his flat in North Delhi’s Adarsh Nagar late on Saturday night. The accused identified as Ajit, who himself called the police after the incident, has been arrested. Married four years ago, the couple fought often and was involved in a similar incident before the murders. The woman’s parents have alleged that she was killed for dowry reasons.
According to police, parents of Ajit’s wife Shalini claimed that he tortured his wife over dowry and the fact that she had given birth to a daughter. Ajit, however, has told the police that it was his wife’s knack of picking up fights that resulted in heated arguments between them and ultimately compelled him to commit the murders. What neighbours could confirm was that there were, indeed, frequent fights between Ajit and Shalini but it were the latter that would often be beaten up and forced to starve by her husband. Sanjeeta, a neighbour said that their relationship had gone from bad to worse since the birth of their daughter Vanshika in 2012.
“On Saturday night, too, the two had a fight and we heard the woman screaming for help. But since such fights were frequent and Ajit resisted any intervention from outsiders we did not step in. I did not have any inkling about what was to happen next,” she said. Others said that it was around 11 pm that Anjali’s voice was last heard. Around 15 to 20 minutes later, some of the area residents saw Ajit holding his wife’s body upside down from the balcony of the second floor house where they lived. “Even I asked him what was going on, he released his wife’s body which fell on a parked ice cream cart before landing on the ground with a thud,” said another neighbour on condition of anonymity.
What the neighbours saw next was Ajit coming downstairs holding his daughter Vanshika’s body by his arms. He had informed the police in the meantime who reached the spot and arrested him. A sub-divisional magistrate level inquiry has been ordered as the couple had not completed seven years of marriage. The couple lived with Ajit’s family members who included his parents and a married elder brother along with his wife and children. However, all but Ajit’s immediate family had left for their native place a few days ago. Police said that they were also looking into the fact that whether this was because they were aware of Ajit’s plans.