Rajasthan: Man held for burning to death two wives in car, showing it as mishap

The police identified the man as Deepa Ram (30), a contractor of building materials, who worked in Gujarat (Google Maps)

Rajasthan police has arrested a man in Jalore district for allegedly murdering his two wives by setting fire to the car in which he was travelling with them, and subsequently trying to make the murders look like an accident. The police identified the man as Deepa Ram (30), a contractor of building materials, who worked in Gujarat.

“We received information on Tuesday that a car caught fire and two women who were travelling in it were burnt to death near Shishawa village. We later learned that both women were married to Ram,” said Teju Singh, sub-inspector of Chittalwana police station in Jalore district.

According to the police, Ram has a son from his first marriage to Malu Devi (26), and two children from his second wife Dariya Devi (22), whom he married about five years ago. “His first wife was mentally challenged because of which Ram married a second time. After we reached the spot where the car was burning, Ram told us the car accidentally caught fire,” Singh said.

The police said that Dariya Devi’s father arrived from village late on Tuesday night and registered an FIR against Ram on Wednesday morning. “The families of the women told us that there were frequent domestic fights between the accused and his wives. After further interrogation, we arrested Ram on charges of murdering the women,” Singh said.

Jalore Superintendent of Police Vikas Sharma told The Indian Express that for the past few months relations were strained between Dariya Devi and Ram, and parents. “For the last three or four months, the accused, his family and the second wife had differences. During interrogation, the accused claimed that the woman had tried to strangle him in the past,” Sharma said.

He said that the two also had a fight in the car that was allegedly set ablaze and the women charred to death in it. The police said that on Tuesday Ram told his wives he wanted to buy jewellery for them and took them out for a drive from Shishawa.

“Ram had kept petrol in a bottle and had opened its lid…. He set fire to the car and jumped out of it. The car and the two women were charred. Ram escaped unhurt,” the SHO said. SP Sharma said discrepancies were found in Ram’s statement. “Nobody could help the women because the fire spread in a very short time and none of the bystanders were trained to handle such a situation,” he said.