Delhi: Wife sedates husband with sleeping pills, lover electrocutes him to death

New Delhi: A woman and her lover were arrested for allegedly killing her husband in Delhi's Dwarka, an official said on Saturday.

The incident came to light on July 13, when a call was made to the PCR from the Mata Rooprani Maggo Hospital in Uttam Nagar, reporting the death of Karan Dev (36).

Karan and his wife, Sushmita, have a six-year-old son, the official added.

Sushmita and her alleged lover Rahul Dev (24), who is the son of Karan's uncle, were arrested, a senior police officer said, adding that a relative found chats between the two on a social media platform planning to kill Karan.

Karan had slapped Sushmita on the festival of Karwachauth, which added to her emotional distress, police sources stated.

According to a preliminary investigation, Sushmita first allegedly drugged Karan by giving him sleeping pills, following which Rahul electrocuted him using the wire of an extension board, the officer added.

Sushmita allegedly mixed over 10 sleeping pills in Karan's food on the night of July 12, after which Rahul came to their residence in the morning and electrocuted him, he added.

Subsequently, Sushmita rushed to her in-laws' house nearby, telling them that Karan had collapsed, which prompted them to take him to the hospital.

He was brought to the hospital in an unresponsive state and declared dead with the medico-legal case (MLC) citing electrocution as the cause of death, sources said.

"Initially, the deceased's family did not raise any allegations and even wished to waive the post-mortem examination. However, considering Karan's relatively young age and to rule out any foul play, the post-mortem was conducted at Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Ankit Singh said.

On July 16, Karan's younger brother, Kunal Dev, approached the police, expressing suspicions about the circumstances of his brother's death.

Kunal discovered messages between Sushmita and her lover, in which they allegedly planned to kill Karan by administering sleeping pills and electrocuting him.

A case under Sections 103 (punishment for murder) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered, and an investigation is underway.