Man arrested for killing woman after promising to get married to her

New Delhi: A 29-year-old painter was arrested for killing a woman after allegedly taking her to Surajkund in Faridabad on the pretext of marrying her, police said on Tuesday.

Accused Asif, a resident of Faridabad, is already married and worked at the same flat as a painter where the 20-year-old woman worked as a domestic help in central Delhi's Ajmal Khan Park, they said.

Police said initially a case of kidnapp ing was registered regarding the matter on December 11 after the victim's mother reported at DBG Road police station about her missing daughter.

When CCTV footage of her workplace was scanned, it showed that the woman had left her work premises around 7 pm on December 10 but after that her whereabouts were not known, they said.

On December 12, the woman's body was recovered from a jungle in Faridabad's Surajkund area, police said.

Analysis of CCTV footage of nearby areas of Ajmal Khan Park revealed that the victim was seen going to a cake shop on December 9 with an unknown person who was later identified to be Asif, who was among one of the labourers working at the same house where the victim worked as a domestic help, a senior police officer said.

Asif's call detail records of his mobile phone was obtained and analysed and the accused confessed to killing the woman during interrogation, the police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shweta Chauhan said Asif was working as a painter in the flat when he got acquainted with the victim who used to offer him tea and snacks and they would often meet after finishing their work.

"She wanted to marry him but he was already married and had concealed this fact from her. He agreed to marry her and told her to meet him on December 9 after work. They both met near East Park Road and he drove the woman on his motorcycle to Faridabad where they stayed in a hotel. He assured her that he would divorce his wife and marry her. Thereafter, heated arguments took place between them but later he promised her that he would divorce his wife and would marry her the next day," she said.

"Next day, he left the hotel leaving the victim behind on the pretext of making arrangements for their marriage. However, he made no such arrangements and instead came back with a kitchen knife. He took her to an isolated place in Surajkund.

When she died, he left her body there and came back to his work in Delhi to avoid any suspicion, she said.

Subsequently, Section 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code was added in the case and accused Asif was arrested, police said, adding the knife used in the crime was also recovered.