Gurgaon: The body of a 22-year-old woman, missing since May 21, was recovered from a locked bathroom in a private building in IMT Manesar. The decomposed body was found on Sunday at the building on Kasan Khoh Road. Police are investigating the role of the woman's husband, Ankit, as her family alleges he shot her dead after concealing his first marriage and children from them.
Murder Charges Added to FIR
Police initially registered an abduction case but have now added murder sections to the FIR at Manesar police station. The condition of the body suggests death occurred several days earlier. The body was sent to Civil Hospital mortuary for an autopsy on Monday. A bullet appeared to have pierced both sides of the temple, an investigator said. The autopsy was conducted by a board of two doctors. A police officer stated, "It is suspected that the woman was shot dead and the body was hidden inside the bathroom to conceal the crime. The exact cause and timing of death will be established after the postmortem report."
Family Alleges Concealed Marriage
Ashok Prajapati, the woman's maternal uncle from Alwar, told TOI that after the missing complaint was lodged by his sister Pooja (the victim's mother) on May 22, Ankit, who runs a hookah shop in Manesar, fled his house. "We suspect that Ankit and his family members are involved in making our daughter disappear. Despite repeated requests, they did not give us any satisfactory answer," Pooja said in the complaint.
Neighbors alerted authorities after noticing a foul smell from the bathroom in a room above a bank. Panic prevailed when the door was opened and the body was found. Police are investigating the room's owner. Teams from Manesar police station and the forensic science laboratory inspected the spot and collected evidence.
Marriage and Disappearance Timeline
Madhu, a native of Hansaka village in Rewari district, married Ankit on February 19 and lived with him in Manesar. Her mother Pooja, a laborer, alleged that on May 21, Ankit's uncle and sister visited her house in Rewari and informed the family that Madhu was missing. When the family reached Ankit's house to inquire, he left after seeing them and gave no satisfactory response.
Prajapati said the family initially searched for her on their own. "My sister called me late on May 21 after Madhu's in-laws came to their house and informed them that she was missing. I reached Gurgaon the next morning. When I contacted her husband and in-laws, they claimed she had run away and they were unaware of her whereabouts," Prajapati said.
He alleged that the family repeatedly discouraged them from approaching police. "They kept insisting that we should not go to the police as it would bring embarrassment in society, but eventually we lodged the missing complaint."
"On May 24, investigating officer ASI Mukesh informed us that Madhu's body had been recovered. Police told us that Ankit had taken Madhu somewhere on his scooter. He informed us on May 21 that she was missing, but he killed her and fled," Ashok alleged.
Previous Marriage Revealed
Sahil Yadav, who accompanied the family from Alwar to Gurgaon, alleged that Ankit had concealed his first marriage from Madhu's family. "Ankit was already married to a woman named Rajni around three years ago and has two children from that marriage. Neither Ankit nor his parents informed us about this before Madhu's marriage. We learnt about his previous marriage only after lodging the missing complaint," Sahil said. He alleged that the family suspects Madhu was killed after Ankit's first wife learned about his second marriage.
Police said they are questioning members of Ankit's family. Meanwhile, a few villagers from Ankit's village reached the local mortuary and requested the victim's family to allow them to take the body, citing that Ankit's family was unaware of any crime. The victim's family refused to send the body for cremation in Ankit's village.
