Employee and neighbours of a family, the members of which have allegedly killed a 25-year-old woman and dumped her body in a canal, said that the Chaudhary’s had lived a “normal life” at their New Ashok Nagar residence after committing the crime.
At the double-storey residence, which has a dairy on the ground floor, Vijay, an employee of the family, claimed that he “did not get a whiff of any disturbance in the last 20 days”.
The family had allegedly killed Sheetal Chaudhary on January 30 for secretly marrying one Ankit Bhati last year. They told the police that they were against the marriage as Mr. Bhati was from the same clan as them. Mr. Bhati runs a dairy and lives with his family in a village close to Dabri.
Mr. Vijay said that he comes to work in the afternoon and leaves in the evening after rearing the cattle. “They all appeared normal after January 30 as well. There was no difference in their behaviour or any visible tension in the family. I just did not see Sheetal in the house,” he said.
Shocked over murder
Neighbours of the Chaudhary’s also said that they “did not appear to be ones who could do something like this”. Many expressed shock after learning about the murder. A neighbour, who did not wish to be identified, said that the Chaudhary’s had been living in the house for more than 20 years and were always nice to others. “The family never had a fight with anyone. They restricted their interaction with people to greeting them with a smile,” said a 70-year-old grocery shop owner in the area who did not wish to be named.
A few women, who were sitting on the street, said Sheetal was a well-behaved and educated woman. “She was my child’s tuitor. She always said she wanted to do a job. She used to play badminton with the kids,” said another person who did not wish to be named.
A police officer said that Sheetal and Mr. Bhati got into a relationship three years ago. They got married in October 2019 in an Arya Samaj temple but continued to live in their own houses. Sheetal’s family came to know about the marriage recently.
Sheetal’s mother, father, two paternal uncles, a cousin and brother-in-law have been arrested for the murder.