Prayagraj: A 38-year-old woman was arrested on Friday for allegedly burning her husband alive over his alcohol addiction after initially trying to pass off the incident as a suicide. Police said the accused, Preeti Verma, a resident of Tarapur Aswar village, allegedly poured petrol on her husband, Awadesh alias Pawan Kumar (40), and set him ablaze inside their house on Thursday before heading to a bank in an apparent bid to create an alibi.Investigators said the woman allegedly withdrew money from a bank immediately after setting her husband ablaze to distance herself from the crime. During the investigation, police recovered a petrol bottle, a half-burnt wooden cot and other evidence from the house, which pointed towards murder rather than suicide.The incident came to light after locals noticed smoke billowing from the house, which was apparently locked from the inside, and alerted the victim’s family members and the police. Police recovered the charred body and initially suspected it to be a case of suicide before sending it for post-mortem.However, the post-mortem findings and other circumstantial evidence raised suspicion about the woman’s role. During sustained questioning on Friday, she allegedly confessed to the crime.Police said the half-burnt body of farmer Pawan alias Awadesh was recovered from his house in Tarapur village under the Malwa police station limits of Fatehpur district. Besides the body, investigators found a 400-ml petrol bottle and a half-burnt wooden cot, while the rest of the household articles remained largely intact.According to police, Awadesh and Preeti had been married for around 15 years and had no children. The couple frequently quarrelled over Awadesh’s alleged alcohol addiction, which police believe was the motive behind the murder.
