‘Killed my brother to save his wife from beating’

NOIDA: A 30-year-old man was arrested on Sunday, ten months after he killed his alcoholic brother in order to save the brother's wife and child from his abuse, in Mamura village. The accused, Virendra Yadav, hid his brother, Ravindra Yadav's body, in the neighbourhood, to wade off suspicion of his involvement. He also took his sister-in-law in confidence. However, police gathered information and evidences for several months and then picked him for questioning, leading to his arrest.
Arun Kumar Singh, SP (city) Noida, said that the victim, Ravindra Yadav, a driver, lived with his wife Uma (28) and five-year-old son at a rented accommodation. Virendra, who worked in an export company, also lived with the family - who belonged to Aligarh.

On March 10 last year, Uma informed police that her husband's body was found outside her house at 3am. The victim had injury marks on his head and body. His hands and legs were tied with a rope. It seemed he had suffered blood loss and died.

The victim's wife cooked up a story and told police that two neighbours - Sanoj and Murari- had visited her house the previous evening, and had a drink with Ravindra.

The woman said that her husband had asked her to go to another room when she objected to his drinking. A police team later visited the victim's native place in Aligarh to gather more information. The police picked up Ravindra's brother for questioning. He broke down and admitted to killing his brother.

The accused said that his elder brother, an alcoholic, often assaulted Uma and the five-year-old son. On that night, Ravindra returned home heavily drunk, and he kicked the main door. "The five-year-old boy sitting next to the gate was hit and injured. The boy started crying.

Ravindra entered the house and started thrashing the boy. Uma rushed to the spot trying to rescue the boy," Virendra said. Ravindra lost cool and started thrashing his wife in the inebriated condition. Virendra said that he tried to rescue the woman, but failed. "I took out an iron pipe aiming to hit Ravindra's hand, but it landed on his head, by mistake. He received critical injuries and died on the spot," he said.

The accused got scared at the death and took Uma in confidence to cover up the crime and escape from the trouble. Police said a case of murder has been registered against Virendra. "He was produced in court and sent to judicial custody," said SP City.