Police claim Shukla strangled her husband during an argument after his return from Uttarakhand on April 15Rohit Shekhar Tiwari’s wife Apoorva Shukla, arrested in connection with his murder, was Friday sent to 14-day judicial custody by a Delhi court. Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Deepak Sherawat sent Shukla to jail after police did not seek her further custodial interrogation.
Shukla requested the court that she be kept in a separate cell as she fears for her life. The woman’s counsel told the court that the accused be kept in a cell where there are educated women.
The court, however, replied to the demand saying “these things need to be done as per jail manual only and the court cannot pass any order at this stage”.
The investigating agency told the court that though the accused has been sent to judicial custody, they might seek her remand in future as the investigation into the case has not been concluded.
Shukla was arrested on April 26 on charges of allegedly killing Rohit following an argument.
Read | ND Tiwari’s son murder case: Rohit’s wife arrested, police say she strangled him with bare hands
According to his autopsy report, Rohit Shekhar, son of the former CM of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand N D Tiwari, was smothered and strangled on the night between April 15 and 16.
Shukla, a lawyer practising in the Supreme Court, was being questioned in connection with the killing since last Sunday.
On April 10, Rohit had left for Uttarakhand to vote, with his mother Ujjwala (75), a former aide of his father’s and the aide’s wife. On April 15, the group drove back to Delhi around 10.30 pm. “Rohit drank throughout the journey, and he and his wife fought over this,” Additional CP (crime) Rajiv Ranjan had said.
According to police, the couple argued in Rohit’s room and she allegedly strangled and smothered him with her bare hands. She stayed in the room for some time before heading to her room, Ranjan said. When his mother called the next day, Apoorva told her Rohit was sleeping since he “was an insomniac and slept till late”.
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On April 16 afternoon, a domestic help found Rohit unresponsive with a bleeding nose. He was rushed to Max Hospital in Saket, where he was declared dead on arrival.
His body was sent to AIIMS for a post-mortem. Ranjan had said the PM report stated that the “cause of death was asphyxiation by smothering and strangulation. The time of death was two hours after his last meal”.
At 11 pm, he went to his room and came out when his mother Ujjwala came over for dinner. By midnight, Rohit returned to his room. Apoorva joined him around 12.30-12.45 am after watching TV downstairs
