Garhwa — In a chilling case of spousal murder, a 22-year-old woman has been arrested in Jharkhand’s Garhwa district for allegedly poisoning her husband just 36 days after their wedding.
The accused, identified as Sunita, was taken into custody on Monday evening and has been sent to judicial remand, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
According to police, the incident came to light after the victim’s mother, Rajmati Devi, lodged an FIR alleging that her daughter-in-law had murdered her son, Budhnath Singh.
Budhnath, a resident of Bahokundar village under Ranka police station, had married Sunita on May 11. Sunita hails from Vishunpur village in Chhattisgarh’s Ramchandrapur police station area.
Family sources say the marriage began to fall apart almost immediately. Just a day after the wedding, Sunita left for her parental home and reportedly told her family she did not like Budhnath and refused to live with him.
Attempts were made by both families to reconcile the couple, and a village panchayat was held on June 5, after which Sunita returned to her husband’s home.
On June 14, the couple visited the Ramanujganj market in Chhattisgarh. According to the police, Sunita allegedly persuaded Budhnath to purchase pesticide, saying it was needed for agricultural purposes.
The next night, June 15, she reportedly laced his food with the pesticide. Budhnath was found dead the following morning.
His body was sent for post-mortem, and officials say the exact cause of death will be confirmed after the report is received.
“We have arrested the wife based on the complaint by the deceased’s mother,” said the officer in charge of Ranka police station. “A post-mortem is underway, and further investigation is ongoing.”
With inputs from IANS