Woman killed in Greater Noida hours after wedding, police arrests father, brother
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Neha, 23, was in good spirits when she woke up on Tuesday morning. She was getting married to Suraj, whom she had known since high school, and told her family she was going to buy fabric before going to a court in Ghaziabad, where they exchanged vows in a simple ceremony.
Neha was strangled to death at Chipiyana village in Greater Noida, allegedly by her father and brother. Her final rites were conducted on Wednesday morning, and the two, Bhanu Rathore and Himanshu, were taken into custody by the Central Noida Police on Thursday. The woman's family was upset that she had married without their consent, the police said.
The police got a call on their emergency hotline number (112) at 6:45 p.m. on Wednesday, which led to the discovery of the incident, Indian Express reported.
“The caller, who identified himself as Suraj, informed us that his wife was killed by her parents,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Noida, Shakti Mohan Avasthy.
"Avasthy said Suraj, 23, informed the police that he had attempted to contact Neha on Wednesday but that no one had returned his calls. “Then he contacted someone in her locality and was told that she (his wife) was dead, and her family had carried out her final rites on Wednesday morning,” the DCP said.
After the call, a police team from Bisrakh police station went to the village. “When the team reached her house, the family revealed that the woman died of an illness on Wednesday morning, and they cremated her body around 7 am,” said the DCP.
“This seemed suspicious. The father and brother were questioned, after which they admitted to having strangled the woman,” he said.
The DCP told The Indian Express that it was a high school romance. “They (Neha and Suraj) lived in Hapur… they were neighbours… they studied in the same school too. After Class X, the woman’s family moved to Noida,” the DCP said.
But Neha and Suraj continued to communicate. According to DCP Avasthy, Suraj's family was aware of the relationship. “A while ago, they had even visited the woman’s family. But Neha’s family disapproved of the match,” he said.
According to Avasthy, the woman, a tailor, left home on Tuesday morning after informing her family that she was going to buy fabric in Ghaziabad's Lal Kuan district. While they were in court, a friend of Neha's brother noticed them and told her family.
“It was her brother’s friend who spotted her at the registrar’s office and informed him. When Neha’s father, Bhanu Rathore, and brother Himanshu came to know about it, they called her back home. The family got into an altercation with her,” a senior officer part of the investigation revealed. “The two then planned to kill her when she was asleep,” the officer added.
“They strangled her,” said the DCP. “We have arrested the two accused. During questioning, they admitted that they did not like the idea of her getting married to Suraj without their consent,” he added.
