Ahmedabad: A woman and her husband, residents of Gandhinagar district, strangled their 20-year-old neighbour allegedly because he was blackmailing her into a sexual relationship.According to police sources, the 20-year-old secretly recorded the woman bathing around two months ago. Police suspect he used the video to blackmail her into a physical relationship.The woman eventually confided in her husband about the alleged blackmail and the pressure to have sex, police said.According to police, on Saturday, the woman invited the 20-year-old home, assuring him that she was alone. Then the husband appeared, and the couple strangled the 20-year-old and stuffed his body into a white plastic bag.A team led by Kalol taluka police inspector J J Gadhvi arrested the couple, who are in their 30s.A local court remanded them in police custody till July 17. Gadhvi said that ahead of the murder, the couple picked up their children from school and dropped them off at a relative’s, saying that they would be arrested for killing someone.The 20-year-old continued to contact the woman, though he knew that her husband was aware of the forced relationship.That attitude, police said, incensed the husband.On Saturday morning, the 20-year-old left home. Soon, his mobile phone was unreachable. His scooter remained parked at home, prompting relatives to search for him across nearby villages.Later in the afternoon, villagers saw the man’s body lying inside the couple’s locked compound. The man’s family was informed.Deputy superintendent of police R M Sarode said postmortem confirmed strangulation as the cause of death. A murder case has been registered.Police suspect the couple have destroyed the man’s mobile phone.PointersChronicle of a deathAfter her husband left home, the woman allegedly called the 20-year-old man homeThe couple’s children had already left for schoolMoments after the man entered the house, the woman’s husband returned home and overpowered the manThe woman allegedly held the 20-year-old while her husband strangled him with a dupattaPolice said the husband used an electric fan’s cable to ensure that the man had diedThe couple then stuffed the body into a white plastic bag, locked the house, and left on a motorcycleThey collected their children from school, left them at a relative’s, and fled. Police arrested them the same night
