BHOPAL: A 24-year-old woman was on Friday shot dead by her boyfriend, who intended to shoot himself, too, as part of an alleged suicide pact but lost his nerve and fled, say police in in MP’s Chhatarpur.
The accused, Sachin Yadav, has been arrested and admitted to killing his girlfriend, Meera, say police. She had completed her masters and was pursuing a BEd degree.
The couple were secretly dating for around three years but faced strong opposition from their families when they learnt about it. Meera’s family had arranged her marriage elsewhere, driving the lovers to desperation, say police.
They allegedly made a pact: Sachin would shoot her and then kill himself. The couple met on Friday afternoon at Sachin’s rented home in a building on Satai Road.
At 1.30pm, other tenants heard two gunshots from the room and ran there to find Sachin holding a pistol and Meera lying dead on the floor, bleeding from the head. Witnesses told police that Sachin was shaken and told them that he was going to give himself up to police
He didn’t. Police say he tried to escape. He was caught by police in Naugaon area.
Sachin followed through with the plan, shooting Meera in the head, but when it came time to shoot himself, he couldn’t do it. He fled the scene, leaving her body behind.
According to police, Sachin has said that they planned to die together as her family were opposed to their relationship, but after shooting her dead, he changed his mind. A countrymade firearm was found on the spot.
Senior SP Agam Jain, additional SP Vikram Singh, CSP Aman Mishra, and Civil Lines police station in-charge Valmiki Choubey inspected the crime scene with a forensic team. “He says that they planned to die together. He shot her dead and then fled. We are trying to ascertain the motive. Sachin is in custody and his claims are being verified,” SP Jain told TOI.