Kishtwar, Sep 11: A man, along with his brother and mother, was arrested for allegedly killing his wife in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district, police said on Saturday.
The woman was strangled by the trio under a well-planned conspiracy hatched to pave the way for another marriage of the husband of the deceased, a police spokesman said.
He said police started inquest proceedings into the death of Neetu Devi, a resident of Horna village of Mughal Maidan, after her body was found hanging at a committee hall on July 11. Her in-laws had started performing her last rites without informing her parents who lodged a police complaint.
“Initially, the in-laws of the deceased woman stated that she has committed suicide by hanging herself, but during the course of enquiry, some foul play into the matter was substantiated by the inquiry officer and accordingly the inquest proceedings were converted into a case of murder,” the spokesman said.
Keeping in view the sensitivity of the case, he said Senior Superintendent of Police Kishtwar Shafqat Hussain Batt constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) which cracked the case after hectic efforts and questioning of suspected persons.
The spokesman said it was established that Devi was murdered by her husband Lokesh Kumar, brother-in-law Gowash Lal and mother-in-law Devki Devi by strangulating her with a headscarf.
“The accused persons after committing the heinous crime shifted the body to a nearby committee hall and hanged it with a hook using headscarf to pretend that the deceased has died by suicide,” the spokesman said, adding all the three accused were taken into custody and are lodged in district Jail Kishtwar.
