New Delhi: A 21-year-old woman — reportedly obsessed with crime television shows and trained in forensic science — allegedly murdered her live-in partner in east Delhi and staged the scene to look like a tragic accident, say police.
What Happened: The victim, a UPSC aspirant living in the Gandhi Vihar area of Timarpur, was in a live-in relationship with the accused since May of this year. The woman, a former BSc forensic science student from Moradabad who later shifted to computer science, discovered that her partner had recorded obscene videos of her and stored them on a hard disk. After he refused to delete the content and allegedly began humiliating her, she reportedly felt trapped and enraged and reached out to an ex-boyfriend to plot revenge.
The Murder Plot:
In the early hours of October 6, the trio — the woman, her ex-boyfriend (an LPG gas distributor from Moradabad) and another associate — visited the victim’s flat. There, they strangled and beat him to death, poured oil and alcohol over his body, and then used their technical expertise to rig a gas cylinder near his head, igniting it to stage a fire. “On the night of October 5, the trio visited the victim’s flat, where they allegedly strangled and beat him to death before pouring oil and alcohol over the body. The ex-boyfriend, who works as an LPG gas distributor in Moradabad, then set up the scene for a fire,” a senior police officer told HT. The accused allegedly also poured ghee on the victim after his murder, PTI reported. The body was left charred in what initially appeared as an accidental blast.
Discovery & arrests:
Despite the staged accident, police doubts were raised when CCTV footage showed two individuals entering the building before the fire and the woman leaving shortly after. Call detail records and technical surveillance then led to the arrests: the woman on October 18, her ex-boyfriend on October 21, and the third associate on October 23. Investigators recovered the hard disk with obscene videos, a trolley bag, the victim’s shirt and mobile phones used in the crime.
Key Motive and Method:
The motive hinges on the accused feeling trapped by the videotaped content and subsequent humiliation by the victim. She appears to have used her forensic-science background—along with her interest in crime shows—to plan the murder and mislead investigators. The manipulation of the gas cylinder, ignition setup and fire staging all suggest pre-meditation rather than a spontaneous act. Police are filing charges under relevant homicide and criminal conspiracy laws.
