80-year-old kills sleeping wife with axe, then walks to cops in Ghaziabad

GHAZIABAD: An 80-year-old man allegedly hacked his 72-year-old wife to death with an axe as she slept outside their daughter’s house in Rawli Kala village in Muradnagar, then walked into a nearby police outpost to confess on Saturday.

Police said the accused, Harpal, a resident of Morta village, arrived at Rawli police outpost around 4 am and told officers that he had killed his wife with an axe. Police teams accompanied him to the house, where they found the body of his wife, Urmila, lying on a blood-soaked cot. She had suffered multiple deep axe wounds to the head, neck and shoulder. The woman was rushed to a community health centre, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.

The elderly couple had been living with their daughter, Kanchan. At the time of the incident, Kanchan and her husband were away in Meerut for a relatives wedding. Two of Kanchan’s sons, Ajay and Kunal, were asleep in another room, but said they heard nothing during the night.

Returning home to news of her mother’s death, Kanchan said the couple had fought throughout their lives. “Lately, they had also stopped interacting with us. But we did not think the matter was this serious,” she said. Kanchan, one of the couple’s three children, said she lost her elder brother a few years ago.

Her sons told police that Harpal had been suffering from mental health issues and that arguments between him and Urmila were frequent. They cited an incident earlier that week in which Harpal had slapped Urmila after she made a remark that angered him. He had also been verbally abusive towards his grandsons, they said.

Senior police officials said Harpal has been arrested and is being questioned. The axe was recovered from the scene. Preliminary investigation suggests prolonged domestic disputes may have contributed to the killing. The body has been sent for autopsy, and statements of family members and neighbours are being recorded.