Man kills wife, son in a fit of rage, buries them on farm

Nagpur: Aniruddh Bawne, in his 40s, stepped into Airoli police station on Tuesday morning and surrendered for having murdered his wife Lata (35) and son Dheeraj (17) during a heated scuffle at his farm at Khat in Mouda tehsil on November 27. He also confessed to having buried the bodies at his farm.
Aniruddh, a farmer, had stoned wife and son to death during an argument over money at the farm, around 50km from city. Lata was demanding Rs10,000 for their son’s education. The son was a science stream student in Standard XII at a city college. After burying the corpses, Aniruddh had the next day got a mud bund and a nullah constructed with a JCB, dumping the excavated earth where he had buried the corpses of his wife and son.

Aniruddh had then, on December 2, tried to mislead police by registering a missing complaint at Bhandara city police station. However, he succumbed to the pressure built on him by police interrogation tactics, and confessed on Tuesday.

Police said Aniruddh and Lata had been at loggerheads since marriage two decades ago. He had left her when she was pregnant with Dheeraj. Lata had moved to Katol to stay with her brother Narayan Dahake. Later, Lata had registered offences against Aniruddh at Airoli police station over domestic violence. She had also filed for a plea for maintenance in the court, which had directed Aniruddh to pay maintenance to Lata and Dheeraj.

Aniruddh had married again in the meantime, and fathered a daughter.

Two years ago, Lata had moved to a rented house at Dubey Nagar in Hudkeshwar with Dheeraj, who had cleared his Standard X.

On November 26, Lata and Dheeraj had gone to Khat to meet Aniruddh and demand the maintenance due to them. She stayed at a relative’s place. The following day, Lata and Dheeraj had a fight with Aniruddh and decided to return to Nagpur.

Aniruddh followed Lata and Dheeraj to Khat bus stop, where he pacified the mother-son by promising to settle the dues after selling off the harvest. He even convinced them to go to the farm and see the harvest.

At the farm, Aniruddh again had a heated duel with Lata, and enraged by her insults struck her on the head with a stone. As she collapsed, Dheeraj too turned aggressive, and Aniruddh struck him too with the stone. He too died in the attack. Aniruddh went home, and returned with salt and some digging tools.

Aniruddh buried the corpses of his wife and son and went home. The next day, he got more earth heaped on the bodies by getting a nullah and mud-bund built nearby.

The matter came to fore after Aniruddh’s brother-in-law Dahake started asking about Lata and Dheeraj. He learnt about the mother-son duo’s visit to Khat. However, Aniruddh claimed to have dropped off the two at Bhandara, to take a bus to Nagpur. It was then that Dahake pressurized Aniruddh to report the matter at Bhandara city police station.

PI Sudhakar Chauhan of Bhandara city police station said they could not find any CCTV footage near the bus stop showing Lata, Dheeraj and Aniruddh on November 28. “Our sustained questioning prompted Aniruddh to spill the beans before Airoli police later,” he said.

HOW THE CASE DETECTED

Senior PI Sudhakar Chauhan of Bhandara police station said that they had visited Khat in Mouda tehsil to make inquiries. “As a part of strategy we had spread a rumour that Aniruddh had eliminated wife and son. Later when Aniruddh had heard the rumour he came under pressure and also got panicked assuming cops have found out his lies,” he said. “Aniruddh later went to Airoli police station,” he said.