Man smothers wife to death, son blurts out truth to relatives

Ghaziabad: A woman whose last rites were carried out as her family believed she died of an illness was allegedly smothered to death by her husband while she was sleeping in their Masuri house, the couple’s 5-year-old son told some relatives.
Police said the boy, Ballu, witnessed the murder but was too scared to talk.
He told his uncle Imraan after the funeral that his father, 30-year-old Shahnawaz, had killed Rukhsar.
Cops told TOI on Thursday they have registered a case against Shahnawaz and his associate Gulfam under BNS Section 103 (murder). Both are on the run.
According to Imraan, the couple shifted to the city from their hometown in Hapur’s Pilkhuwa a few months ago. They got married eight years ago, and have a son, Ballu (5) and a daughter Alisa (7).
Alisa lives with her grandparents in Pilkhuwa.
Imraan told TOI that Shahnawaz, a labourer, informed the family around 1am on Aug 20 that his sister Rukhsar died after complaining of severe stomach pain.
“At her funeral, mourners asked Ballu if he missed his mother. He told them that his father had killed her. Later, they called me and told me. I asked Ballu what had happened, and he told me that the couple had fought before Rukhsar went to sleep. Shahnawaz then used a pillow to smother her. Her clothes were torn in the attempt,” Imraan said.
Imraan said Shahnawaz used make-up on Rukhsar’s body to hide any injury marks and changed her clothes. “We also found a bedsheet in the washing machine. We suspect the role of Gulfam, who is Shahnawaz’s cousin, in the murder,” he said.
Additional DCP (Masuri) Naresh Kumar said a case was registered but investigators will need permission to exhume Rukhsar’s body for post-mortem examination.
“We can exhume the body and send it for a post-mortem examination after an order by the magistrate. A team of police is in the process of getting permission, and further action will be taken based on the autopsy results,” Kumar said.