Double murder: Slain woman's lover detained

 Delhi Police Saturday said they have detained for questioning the lover of the woman who was murdered along with her five-year-old son by her partially paralysed husband here.
The identity of the man, in his 30s, has not been disclosed.

During questioning, the man revealed that he had not married Sweta, as was earlier claimed by her husband Nitin Maini. "He and Sweta loved each other and they wanted to marry. Regarding this, he met Sweta's mother a few days ago," Assistant Commissioner of Police Jasmit Singh said.

The man, who works as a taxi driver and resides in east Delhi's Laxmi Nagar area, is married and has two children.  "He met Sweta in Laxmi Nagar, where she worked with an NGO, few months ago. He dropped Sweta home many times in his taxi and the two became friends," a police officer said.

In his statement to police, the man said that Sweta knew about his marriage but was ready to marry him. "For three months, he had been visiting Sweta's home. On Jan 4, she met him at a religious function and he decided to talk Sweta's mother regarding their marriage,” added the officer.

The man also disclosed that Maini knew him as well, but did not like him because of his friendship with his wife. "Nitin Maini had told police in his statement Friday that he killed his wife as she had an illicit relationship with the man and married him Jan 4," he added.
Nitin Maini, paralysed from the waist down, called police around 2 a.m. Thursday claiming that he had murdered his wife Sweta, 25, and son Garv at his house in west Delhi's Rohini area.

After his arrest, Maini told the police that he strangulated Sweta and then smothered his son with a pillow. He killed his son because he could not take proper care of him, Maini said in his statement.

Maini, who worked as an interior designer, had met with an accident three years ago and was left paralysed waist down. He and Sweta even celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary Thursday.

Maini said he learnt about Sweta's affair when he overheard a phone call she received from her lover. Maini lived with his parents and two brothers, Shivam and Rohit, in the same house.

"Maini's family members told police that they came to know about the double murder when police reached their house," a police officer said. His family members also alleged that Sweta's father was forcing her to remarry after Maini's accident.

Neighbours informed police that Maini's family members wanted Sweta to marry his younger brother. However, Sweta's father Dinesh Verma said that Maini was due to receive Rs.21 lakh from an insurance company after his paralysis and his wife and son were the nominees of the insurance claim.

"This is the main reason for the murder of my daughter and my grandson. The whole family planned to kill her," alleged Verma.