Shock and gloom have shrouded two families, who knew each other well and had seen three marriages between their members, after a woman killed her husband with the help of her lover and his friends in Sri Ganganagar district – an incident that is now being called Rajasthan’s honeymoon murder.
Anjali, 23, from Sadulshahar in the district, married 27-year-old Ashish from 1-KLM village, just 30 km from the Pakistan border, three months ago, and the match seemed perfect on paper. Ashish had completed his M.Sc in Geology and was pursuing a B.Ed degree. Anjali was pursuing an M.Com degree, and the icing on the cake was the close ties between her and Ashish’s families.
As a child, Ashish was adopted by his uncle and aunt, who had no son of their own. They raised him lovingly and, a few months ago, his adoptive mother arranged his marriage with Anjali, who is her niece.
When NDTV spoke to them on Thursday, Ashish’s family members recalled that Anjali seemed to be settling in with them well. They were, thus, even more distraught and stunned by what happened on January 30.
Anjali and Ashish went out on a walk with Ashish’s cousin, Ankit, and his wife that evening. “We went towards the village for our usual walk. We normally don’t take the deserted route. But Ashish dropped me and my wife home, and then, at Anjali’s insistence, they took that route,” Ankit said.
The family was later told that Ashish and Anjali were found unconscious in what was thought of as a hit-and-run. Ashish was declared dead at the community health centre, while Anjali, who said her gold jewellery had been stolen after the accident, kept flitting in and out of consciousness.
Injuries on Ashish’s body, inconsistencies in Anjali’s story, and a thorough investigation by the police, however, revealed that the death was not an accident, but a murder planned by the newly married woman. Anjali, it turned out, had rekindled her romance with her former boyfriend, Sanju, who worked as a waiter at wedding functions.
Sanju and two of his friends were hiding in the bushes along the road and, when Anjali and Ashish got there, they attacked him, strangled him and tried to pass off the killing as a road accident. Anjali gave her earrings to Sanju, lay down and pretended to be unconscious when the police arrived.
‘Should Be Given Death Penalty’
At Ashish’s village, people still remember the pomp with which the wedding was celebrated and are both shocked and angry. Ashish’s father, Ramrakh, called for the death penalty for Anjali, while his mother was too inconsolable to speak.
“Anjali’s behaviour always seemed normal. She mixed well with the family. After the murder, she pretended to be unconscious and didn’t speak to us,” Ramrakh recalled.
Rage rising in his voice, he continued, “We want her to be given the death penalty. Even her family agrees with us.”
Anger And Shame
The atmosphere was not much better at Sadulshahar’s Chhajgariya Mohalla, where Anjali’s family has lived for about 40 years.
Anjali’s father died 13 years ago, and she lived with her mother, two brothers and their wives. After her wedding to Ashish, she had returned home for some time on the pretext of studying for her M.Com degree.
Neighbours said Anjali had met Sanju in Sri Ganganagar city, about 30 km away, and the family may have known about their relationship. The marriage with Ashish, they suggested, could have been her family’s way of making sure that she forgot about Sanju, but Anjali got in touch with him when she returned home after the wedding.
Anjali’s uncle, however, vehemently denied the suggestion.
“We are devastated. We have been connected to this family for 50 years. Our customs are such that we ensure our daughters are married only into families known to us. Two of my sisters are also a part of that family. We had no idea about this relationship. We are deeply ashamed. If we had known, we would have died rather than allow this marriage to happen,” he told NDTV.
“Anjali is my niece. Her father passed away about 13 years ago. We want Anjali and the three men to be given the death penalty. The way Ashish suffered and died… she should face the same punishment. She has destroyed us. We don’t know how to face people,” he rued.
