KANPUR: A man allegedly strangled his wife to death and dumped the body in a drain about 500 metres from their house in Kanpur, placing stones on the body to prevent it from floating, police said.On Saturday morning, passersby spotted a head in the drain and informed police who retrieved the body and sent it to the mortuary. Late at night, the victim’s brother identified the body as that of Aakriti Singh alias Ruby (28), a resident of Saraimeeta in Panki. Aakriti had a love marriage in a temple five years ago.Police arrested the accused husband and two brothers-in-law and questioned them. The husband confessed to killing her by strangulating. During the investigation, police found that the accused deleted the CCTV footage from the house.Aakriti’s brother Rahul, a resident of Saraimeeta, worked in a private company. Nitin worked at a wrapper company in Dada Nagar. The couple had a 3-year-old son Utkarsh and a 6-month-old daughter Manavi.Rahul said that since the marriage, the in-laws had been continuously beating his sister. Complaints of assault were filed at the Panki police station several times. However, police mediated a compromise between the two parties every time. This emboldened the in-laws further.Rahul said his sister married of her own will, though the entire family was also in agreement with the marriage. She used to visit her maternal home regularly. Their mother had given her some jewellery which she would wear in functions and then bring it back and keep it at her maternal home, and this angered her husband Nitin. The two quarrelled several times over this issue.On February 26, Nitin beat his sister. After that, she filed a complaint at the Panki Mandir police outpost. Police then called both Aakriti and Nitin and mediated a compromise. Both reached home where Nitin beat her again. He killed her and wrapped the body in a blanket and dumped it in a drain 500 metres from the house. He placed stones on top of it, Rahul said.When the body was spotted in the drain on Saturday, passersby informed the police by calling 112. The Panki police station force reached the spot. Police tried to identify the body. However, identification could not be made, and police sent the body to the mortuary.Late Saturday night, family members learned about the incident through social media and contacted Panki police. When the police showed photos to brother Rahul, he identified the body as that of his sister Aakriti Singh alias Ruby. On Sunday, police sent the body for a post-mortem examination. After the post-mortem, police will hand over the body to Aakriti’s maternal family. The last rites will then be performed.
