Man, two associates held for poisoning wife, secretly burying body in near Chhatarpur

Police said Rabab’s body was exhumed on August 15, almost 12 days after its burial, after permission was taken from the sub-divisional magistrate.

A 47-year-old man and his two associates have been arrested for allegedly murdering his wife by forcibly administering a poisonous weedicide and a high dose of sleeping pills and later surreptitiously burying her body at a burial ground in Chandan Hola near Chhatarpur, police said on Tuesday. 

Investigators are awaiting the autopsy report to ascertain the exact cause of death. 

The accused, identified as Shadab Ali, a house painting contractor, allegedly killed his wife Rabab (single name) on August 2. He was arrested along with his fellow workers Shahrukh Khan, 28, and Tanveer, 25, for their role in the conspiracy, said deputy commissioner of police (south) Ankit Chauhan. 

Police said Rabab’s body was exhumed on August 15, almost 12 days after its burial, after permission was taken from the sub-divisional magistrate. Investigators are awaiting the autopsy report to ascertain the exact cause of death. 

According to police, Ali suspected his wife of infidelity after allegedly seeing objectionable messages and photographs with another person on her mobile phone. Driven by anger, he hatched a murder plan with his associates. 

The plot 

As per investigators, on July 27, Ali took Rabab and their two children, an 11-year-old daughter and five-year-old son, on an outing to Jama Masjid. Carrying six sleeping pills in his pocket, he allegedly mixed them into Rabab’s tea. When she began to feel dizzy, Ali called Shahrukh to the Jama Masjid area in his Hyundai Xcent, telling his children their mother needed medical attention. 

Ali dropped the children at their Mehrauli home, but instead of taking Rabab to hospital, he drove her to a house in Dera Mandi belonging to his employer, where he tied her hands and limbs, police said. 

Another investigator said Ali then forcibly administered a poisonous weedicide to his wife, who resisted swallowing it. When she spat out the liquid, Ali allegedly tried but failed to strangle her. Despite her deteriorating health, she was kept confined at the Dera Mandi house for three days. 

On July 31, Ali, with the help of Shahrukh and Tanveer, shifted Rabab back to his Mehrauli residence. She was semi-unconscious at the time, but Ali still did not seek medical treatment. Police said she eventually died on August 2 from multiple organ failure caused by the poison. 

Ali allegedly told his children that Rabab died of a chronic disease that doctors at the hospital could not cure. In the early hours of August 3, Ali and his associates transported the body in the car and buried it at the Chandan Hola burial ground, passing it off as a death due to illness, investigators said. 

The police are probing how Alinand his associates managed to bury his wife’s body and if anyone else helped him in it. “We are trying to find out if they did the burial secretly, without informing or seeking approvals from the authorities concerned,” said a senior police officer, aware of the case.

Complaint and probe 

The matter came to light on August 10 when Rabab’s friend filed a missing complaint at the Mehrauli police station, also suspecting her wrongful confinement. Accordingly, a case of kidnapping or abduction in order to murder or for ransom was registered under section 140 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, said DCP Chauhan. After it was established that the missing woman was killed and her body was buried, the police added BNS’s sections of murder (103), 61(criminal conspiracy) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) to the FIR.

“During the probe, technical investigation and scanning of CCTV cameras revealed that Ali was seen with his two associates transporting her in an unconscious condition in a car. When Ali was interrogated, he confessed to killing his wife by administering sleeping pills and poisonous weedicide and burying her body in the graveyard. We have also arrested Shahrukh and Tanveer and recovered the car used in the crime,” the DCP said.