Man arrested for killing woman in front of her 4-yr-old son

A 30-year-old man was arrested here today for allegedly murdering a woman in front of her son here to "avenge" the separation of his sister with her husband, police said.

Sandeep allegedly shot dead Meenakshi yesterday morning in Rohini Sector 16 when she was taking her four-year-old son son to his school in rickshaw. He was arrested from Bawana today, M A Rizvi, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer), said.

He was on a motorcycle and police were provided with the details of the vehicle used in the crime, which they found was registered in the name of one Nafe Singh of Sonepat. Meenakshi's husband Parminder Rana told police that Singh is the father of his first wife Ritu.

"Rana had married Ritu in 2004. Two years later, a dispute arose between them and Ritu started living with her parents. In the mean time, Rana started living with Meenakshi in Rohini. There were series of litigation between Ritu and Parminder since 2006," Rizvi said.

Teams were sent to Ritu's village where her brother Sandeep was found missing. This led to suspicion about Sandeep's involvement in the case, he said. Following a tip off, police arrested Sandeep from a relative's house in Bawana.

During interrogation, Rizvi said, Sandeep told police that he and his family members tried to sort out the differences with Rana but failed.

Ritu had filed various cases against Rana regarding harassment for dowry, domestic violence and maintenance at courts in Delhi and in Sonepat.

Sandeep told police that he got a countrymade pistol for himself due to alleged threats. In 2010, Rana made efforts for compromise and Ritu started living with him but he again started avoiding her and started living with Meenakshi.

"Rana was not ready to patch up. The cases under Hindu marriage Act, Domestic violence Act and Dowry Act were already withdrawn by them due to compromise with Rana," Rizvi said.

The accused made a last ditch effort on September ten for a compromise but Rana allegedly threatened him and told him that he will not leave Meenakshi.

"The next day, armed with a pistol, he came in search of Rana but could not find him. When he came outside Rana's flat, he saw Meenakshi taking her son out to drop him to school. He started following her.

"Seeing a lonely place near a park, he stopped the rickshaw and fired at Meenakshi several times from his weapon. He did this to take revenge as he felt that Parminder and Meenakshi had spoilt the married life of her sister Ritu," Rizvi said.