Kanpur woman, lover held for killing husband in Mumbai

KANPUR: A 22-year-old woman from Kanpur Dehat took her husband of two months to Navi Mumbai on the pretext of a better job and killed him with the help of her childhood sweetheart.
Preeti Rathore and her lover, Gaurav Singh (22), also a native of Kanpur Dehat, were caught red-handed on July 22 after they smothered Hari Om (27) with a pillow and slashed his throat at a rented chawl room in Panvel.
The two have confessed to the crime and are currently in judicial custody. Kanpur Dehat police are likely to seek their transit remand.
Preeti married Hari on May 6. “The marriage was against her wishes and she hatched a plot with her lover to kill my brother,” said Shiv Om , Hari’s brother.
Kanpur Dehat ASP Anoop Kumar said Preeti had been in a relationship with Gaurav since schooldays. As Gaurav belonged to a different caste, Preeti was afraid to tell her family. “The lovers plotted the murder in Kanpur and executed it in Mumbai. The plan was simple: eliminate Hari and elope.”
Preeti had fights with her in-laws after marriage and she convinced her husband that they needed to move out of Kanpur. On July 20, she introduced Hari to Gaurav, saying the latter was her friend’s brother and worked in Navi Mumbai. The trio reached Panvel on July 22 morning and Gaurav helped the couple find a room.
When Hari was enjoying a siesta that day, Preeti pressed a pillow against his face while Gaurav slit his throat with a kitchen knife borrowed from a neighbour. Hari’s muffled cries before he succumbed to the wound alerted a few neighbours who stopped the lovers from fleeing and alerted the police control room.
Gaurav, initially, tried to cook up a suicide story but broke down during interrogation. He and Preeti were arrested by night.