Jammu: Police on Saturday said that it worked out a blind murder case of a woman with the arrest of her husband, mother-in-law and brother-in-law in Kishtwar district.
A Police spokesman said that Lokesh Kumar, his mother Devki Devi and brother in-law Gowash Lal were arrested for strangling Kumar’s wife Neetu Devi to death on July 11 in Horna village of tehsil Mughal Maidan in Kishtwar.
He said that they tried to project the death as a suicide case.
Quoting investigation details, the Police spokesman said, “The in-laws of the deceased woman wanted to get Kumar married again and carried out this heinous crime in a planned manner.”
He said that on July 11, an inquest proceeding under Sections 174 CrPC into the suspicious death of one Neetu Devi was initiated vide DDR No 13 at Police Station Chatroo.
“Inquest proceedings were initiated when the deceased’s parents reported that her in-laws were performing her last rites without informing them (her parents). Initially, the in-laws of the deceased said that she had committed suicide by hanging herself but during the course of inquiry, some foul play into the matter was substantiated by the inquiry officer and accordingly the inquest proceedings were converted into an FIR No 51/2021 under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code of Police Station Chatroo,” he said.
The Police spokesman said that keeping in view the sensitivity of the case, Police constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT).
“The SIT collected evidence, detained some suspects for questioning. During the course of investigation and sustained questioning of the suspects, it was established that the deceased Neetu Devi was murdered by her husband Kumar, his brother-in-law Lal and mother-in-law Devki Devi by strangulating her with a dupatta,” he said.
The Police spokesman said that on the basis of the investigation vis-à-vis the statement of witnesses and other evidences, the SIT established the role of Kumar, Lal and Devki Devi behind the murder of Neetu Devi.
“The accused persons after committing the crime shifted the body of the deceased to a nearby committee hall and hanged it with a hook using Dupatta to pretend that the deceased committed suicide,” he said.
All three accused were taken into custody and lodged at District Jail Kishtwar.