Delhi: Man buries lover and proof of murder

New Delhi: Soni left her husband and two kids for love and paid with her life.
Even as she lay, last Tuesday, dying in a house where she had moved in six months ago with her lover, 30-year-old Intezar, he started plotting to cover-up his tracks. Minutes ago, he had strangled her following a spat over their unsettled life: both Soni, 28, and Intezar were yet to obtain divorce from their respective spouses and hence couldn't get married. It was a bone of contention, a spark that fuelled chronic tension in what they thought would be a perfect life.

Intezar told his neighbours in northeast Delhi's Chauhan Bangar that Soni had hanged herself with her dupatta and he couldn't save her. Hours later, in the dead of the night, he called an ambulance and got Soni's body transported to Bijnor where it would be surreptitiously buried. Intezar pulled off the plan, well nearly, till his first wife and in-laws got a wind of the happenings. As Soni's coffin was being lowered into the grave, policemen sprang on Intezar. The body was pulled out and taken to a hospital mortuary.

Soni’s body was pulled out and taken to a nearby hospital where it was preserved in the mortuary.

Delhi Police was alerted and an inquest proceeding under Section 174 of the CrPC was initiated to probe the death. DCP (northeast) Atul Kumar Thakur said the autopsy report confirmed strangulation and Intezar, who works in Shahdara area, was taken in for questioning.

He initially told the cops that he returned from work on Tuesday and found his partner hanging by the ceiling fan. He cut off the dupatta from which she was hanging and tried to resuscitate her, but in vain.

However, during sustained interrogation, he spilled the beans and confessed of committing the murder in a fit of rage.

He told cops that on Tuesday morning, his first wife landed up at their house and got into a heated argument with Soni. Following this, the couple themselves got into a fight over their inability to get married. Soni mounted pressure and Intezar, in anger, strangulated her.

Investigating officers said that the accused had met Soni in 2017 when he went to her house to repair some furniture. They started seeing each other and in July 2017, Soni left her husband and two daughters to be with Intezar. Her husband even filed a missing complaint a few days after she had left him but she refused to return.

Intezar told cops that he wanted to marry Soni but was having difficulty in getting a divorce from his first wife. This delay was leading to frequent fights and ultimately led to the woman’s death.