NOIDA: A woman in Greater Noida was allegedly strangled to death in her sleep by her father and brother on Wednesday. The two hurriedly cremated the 23-year-old, who, police said, paid with her life for marrying the man she loved.
Neha’s father Bhanu Rathore and brother Himanshu were furious with the marriage because her husband was from a different caste. The two men were arrested after Neha’s husband, Suraj, alerted cops on Dial 112, on Wednesday evening.
DCP Shakti Mohan told TOI that Suraj and Neha had tied the knot at Ghaziabad’s Arya Samaj temple on Tuesday. The two had then visited the registrar’s officer but were spotted by Himanshu’s friend. “Neha, who had told her family that she would visit a cloth shop in Lal Kuan area, was told to return home immediately. Once home at Chipiyana village, she had a heated argument with her family. Bhanu and Himanshu strangled Neha in her sleep early on Wednesday morning and cremated her body by 7am,” a senior officer, part of the investigation, said.
Initially, the family told cops that the woman was suffering from some illness and had passed away that morning. “During sustained interrogation, the two men told cops they strangled Neha as she married out of her caste. They claimed the two went to the same school in Hapur. Neha’s family had shifted to Chipiyana after she wrote her class 10 exam, but the two were still in touch and were in a relationship for at least 6-7 years despite her family’s disapproval,” the officer said.
According to cops, Suraj had tried to call Neha several times on Tuesday but could not get through her number. On Wednesday too, he tried to call her, but the phone went unanswered. Later, he called Neha’s neighbour, who told him the woman had died earlier that morning and was cremated by her family. This was when Suraj called Dial 112 and alerted them of the murder. Neha was pursuing BA from a private university in Ghaziabad and was taking tailoring classes too, while Suraj works as a driver.
The FIR was egistered under BNS section 103(1) for murder, police said.