Representative image.
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A 52-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh's Farrukhabad was strangled to death by her 26-year-old Instagram friend as she exerted continuous pressure both regarding marriage and repayment of Rs 1.5 lakh loan.
On August 11, an unidentified woman's body was found near Karpari village in the district with strangulation marks on her neck.
Based on the missing complaint, the police identified the body and took the woman's phone number. Through the CDR report, tracked the perpetrator and revealed it to be a 26-year-old-man named 'Arun Rajpoot' from Uttar Pradesh, Manipuri Superintendent of Police Arun Kumar Singh said on Tuesday.
"Two months ago, they exchanged numbers and began speaking to each other regularly on the phone. They also met several times. On August 11, the woman travelled from Farrukhabad to Mainpuri to meet Rajput. He told us the woman had been pressuring him to marry her for some time and she brought up the topic again that day. She had also loaned about Rs 1.5 lakh to him and asked him to return the money," the police officer said.
Miffed by the conversation, Arun Kumar strangled the woman with the 'dupatta' she was wearing and he pulled out the SIM card and got rid of it.
"We have recovered the phones and accessed the messages exchanged between them. Rajput has been arrested for the woman's murder," the police added.
Asked whether the woman's age played any role in the murder, Mr Singh said, "The accused has said that the woman used a filter on Instagram that made her appear younger. When he met her for the first time, he found out her actual age. The woman was also married and had four children. These factors made him not want to marry her."