Representative image of a police van
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A 37-year-old Lucknow businessman, married for 15 years, allegedly strangled his wife to death in front of their two children, reported Times Of India.
He killed his wife inside his SUV, in Sultanpur’s Purvanchal Expressway on Sunday morning.
The cause of the incident appears to be the husband’s "inferiority complex" brought on by his wife's huge Instagram following, police said.
Authorities were yet to look through the victim's locked and private Instagram account.
The victim's decision to block her husband on her account made him feel more vulnerable, as per the report.
According to police, the accused believed that some of his wife's followers on social media would pay her a visit while he was away, causing their relationship to become more tense.
"The accused owns a tour and travel agency while his wife was a homemaker. The couple lived in Para locality of Lucknow with their 12-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son," Kurebhar SHO Praveen Kumar Yadav told the publication.
He described the events in chronological order.
On Sunday morning, the couple set out for Rae Bareli but ended up taking the Purvanchal Expressway. Around 5 am, the accused stopped in Sultanpur close to Mujesh intersection, where he got into a contentious argument with his wife.
He strangled her to death in a fit of rage. Their children, who had been traumatized by the horrific scene, burst into tears. The accused then shut himself inside the SUV.
A patrolling UPEIDA team noticed the car was parked in an odd place, which raised suspicion. They immediately notified the closest police station and police officers showed up at the scene.
The traumatised daughter of the couple disclosed the murder of her mother by her father to the police. Based on her testimony, the accused was subsequently taken into custody.