Lucknow: In a chilling case of betrayal and murder, a woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Etah district allegedly killed her husband with the help of her lover, dumped his body in a tube well, and fled with the man, leaving behind six of her nine children.
The woman, identified as Reena, is accused of killing her husband Ratiram Nat (50), a resident of Uliyapur village in Farrukhabad district, and eloping with her lover Hanif, a contractor at a local brick kiln. Police said that three of Reena’s daughters are already married, while the remaining six children were found abandoned and crying by locals near a closed kiln on June 21.
Ratiram had arrived in Bhargain town in Kasganj district a week ago with Reena and their children to work at a brick kiln. Reena’s maternal home is in Bhargain, where she is said to have rekindled a relationship with Hanif, who resides in the same locality.
On June 17, tensions escalated after Ratiram reportedly discovered Reena’s affair. A heated quarrel followed, during which Reena was allegedly beaten. Later, she and Hanif are suspected to have murdered Ratiram and dumped his body in a tube well tank located in the field of one Zulfiqar. Ratiram had been missing since the night of June 18, and Reena fled with Hanif on June 20.
The mystery unraveled on Sunday evening when labourers working near the area detected a foul smell coming from the tube well. Upon inspection, they discovered the decomposed body of Ratiram. Police were alerted, and a team led by Superintendent of Police Ankita Sharma, Additional SP Rajesh Bharti, CO Santosh Kumar, Inspector RD Yadav, and a forensic unit reached the spot and retrieved the body.
The police have sent the body for postmortem and handed over the six children to Reena’s maternal relatives. A case has been registered on the complaint of the deceased’s brother, Arvind.
SP Ankita Sharma said preliminary investigation indicates that Reena and Hanif murdered Ratiram and fled. “The body appears to be several days old and had started decomposing. Two police teams have been formed to track down the absconding accused,” she said, adding that a detailed probe is underway to establish the full sequence and motive of the crime.