‘They took her away in Fortuner’: Mother recalls desperate chase after daughter’s half-burnt body found in Greater Noida

NOIDA: A neighbour has been arrested in connection with the death of a 22-year-old woman, whose half-burnt body was found on an isolated plot in Dadri on May 7, barely three months after her marriage.Police are treating the death of Monika Nagar as murder. According to cops, her in-laws and husband allegedly took the body away and set it on fire to destroy evidence. Her husband Anuj Chauhan and his family are untraceable.The arrested accused, Karan Rawal alias Kannu (22), is a neighbour of Anuj in Ghodi Bachheda village of Dadri. According to Greater Noida DCP Pravin Ranjan Singh, Kannu had accompanied Anuj and the other accused to the plot where Monika’s body was burnt.Monika and Anuj had a court marriage on Feb 17 after the two had been in a relationship for some time. Police said both families knew about their relationship and had agreed to the marriage. Before the wedding, she had been living with her mother at a rented house in MU-2.According to police, Monika had told her brother she was being assaulted by her husband and in-laws. Her family then rushed to Anuj’s house and alleged that she had been killed there.Dadri SHO Jitendra Kumar Singh said police are investigating the case as murder. “Her husband and in-laws took the body to an isolated place in Dadri, placed it on a heap of cow dung and set it on fire. They did not inform police,” he added. Since the autopsy could not ascertain the cause of death, viscera was preserved.On a complaint by Monika’s family, police registered an FIR against Anuj, his father Harendra, his mother, younger brother Mohit, uncle Narendra, aunt, and Kannu under charges including murder, causing disappearance of evidence and attempt to murder.Monika’s mother, Renu Nagar, said she was in Meerut when her daughter called her around 2.50pm on May 7 and said she was being assaulted. “I left immediately with relatives and reached Anuj’s house between 5pm and 6pm. We saw Anuj, his family and Kannu putting Monika’s body into a black Fortuner,” she said.“We informed police and chased them. Near Galaxy Hospital in Dadri, we tried to stop the vehicle, but they tried to run over me and my nephew before escaping,” she added.Around 9pm, Renu said, police informed her that Monika’s body had been found with burn injuries.Renu also alleged that Anuj had married her daughter after learning that land worth about Rs 3 crore was in Monika’s name and later demanded Rs 2 crore.