Head in river, arms in well: Former village pradhan kills lover, chops body up over 'marriage pressure' in Jhansi
The victim was in a relationship with the former village head for the past two years and had recently been pressuring him to marry her, police said.
A former village pradhan or head of Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi was arrested on Wednesday along with his nephew for the murder of a woman, whose body they chopped and threw at multiple places, police said.
The victim, identified as Rachna Yadav, was in a relationship with the former village head, Mahewa Sanjay Patel (41), for the past two years and had recently been pressuring him to marry her, news agency PTI quoted police as saying, adding that she had also allegedly extorted large sums of money from him.
To get rid of her, the village head allegedly plotted her murder with his nephew Sandeep Patel (25) and associate Pradeep alias Deepak Ahirwar, he said.
Head in river, arms in well
The accused strangled Yadav in a car in the intervening night of August 9 and 10, chopped her body with an axe and disposed of the parts at different locations — dumping the body and arms in a well at Kishorpura and throwing the head and legs into the nearby Raivan river, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) BBGTS Murthy said.
The police recovered body parts from both locations.
SSP Murthy said body parts of an unidentified woman were recovered on August 13 from a well in Kishorpura village under Todi-Fatehpur police station limits.
He said the head and legs of the body were missing, and added that multiple police teams were formed to crack the case.
During investigations, police learned that 35-year-old Rachna Yadav of Mahewa village had been missing for several days.
Further probe revealed former village head Mahewa Sanjay Patel's relationship with her.
Sanjay Patel and Sandeep Patel were arrested near Lakheri dam and sent to jail, while a reward of ₹25,000 has been announced for information leading to the arrest of Pradeep Ahirwar, who remains on the run, the SSP said.
