Upset over contact with first wife, woman gets Dalit husband killed by lover in UP

A woman allegedly got her husband killed by her lover and his associate -- following repeated disputes over the man's continued contact with his first wife -- and later helped them hide and dispose of the victim's body, police said on Friday.

The accused woman, her lover and his associate have been arrested and her minor son apprehended, two days after the husband's body was found inside a trunk near a canal away from her residence, a senior officer said.

DCP (Lucknow South) Mohammad Mushtaq said the woman, identified as Sufia Bano, had been in a relationship with the deceased Ramkishore Valmiki for around four years and the two had married about two years ago.

"Bano was also in an illicit relationship with Munna alias Muchhad, 52, which came to the knowledge of Ramkishore. This led to frequent disputes between the couple, particularly after Ramkishore resumed visiting his first wife Kavita Devi and giving her financial support, which Bano opposed," Mushtaq, accompanied by Additional DCP Rallapalli Vasanth Kumar, told reporters.

"Bano then conspired with Munna and his associate Mohammad Iqbal alias Basir Ahmed, 40, to kill Ramkishore," he said.

On the night of September 14-15, Bano allegedly called the two men to her house and left the door unlatched. They entered while Ramkishore was asleep and allegedly stabbed him to death, Mushtaq said.

The accused tried to destroy evidence by plastering the floor and hiding the bloodstained broom, the deceased's clothes and the knife used in the crime, the officer said.

Bano then called her 16-year-old son, following which the four hid Ramkishore's body inside a wooden box kept under a bed, he said.

On the night of September 15-16, they loaded the body onto an e-rickshaw and dumped it under a canal bridge near Bhawakhada in Kanakha to destroy evidence and prevent identification of the deceased, the DCP said.

The police registered an FIR on September 17 under Section 103(murder), among others, of the BNS following a complaint by Kavita Devi, Ramkishore's first wife.

Four police teams checked around 170-180 CCTV recordings along the suspected route of the e-rickshaw and used technical and field intelligence to trace it, Mushtaq said.

Sufia Bano, Munna and Mohammad Iqbal were arrested on Friday, while Bano's 16-year-old juvenile son was also apprehended. Police said they have also recovered the alleged murder weapon and the e-rickshaw used to transport the body.