The Uttar Pradesh Women’s Commission has issued a notice to Superintendent of Police of Lakhimpur Kheri district and asked him to respond to the complaints of 31-year-old Narendra Verma, who has alleged that his parents and brother hatched a conspiracy on July 10 and killed his wife in a very “gruesome” manner.
Verma claimed that while his father struck his wife’s neck with an axe and beheaded her, his brother used a chopper to attack her mercilessly. The police lodged an FIR and arrested his parents, but his brother is still absconding.
Verma, an alumnus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, is at present a consultant in the Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Department of MSME and Export for Government of Uttar Pradesh.
Verma, in a complaint to the Commission, had written that the police didn’t recover the call details of the accused persons to establish that it was a pre-planned conspiracy.
“Besides, I also wrote that the third accused, my brother should be immediately arrested and the status of the investigation should be shared with the Commission,” Verma told Outlook.
He added, “In response to my complaint, the Commission has asked the SP, Lakhimpur Kheri to respond by August 31. I hope the police will provide the details of the investigation to the Commission.”
Verma married his girlfriend in May 2013 and his marriage was opposed by his parents, because they didn’t like Verma’s wife. They wanted Verma to marry somewhere else.
He left the village with his wife and stayed in different cities like Delhi and Lucknow depending on his work. Since he had very minimal interaction with his parents, the differences never escalated. But Verma said that they always expressed their vengeance against his wife whenever they got the opportunity.
However, on March 24 this year, Verma moved to his village to celebrate Holi and by the time he planned to move out, the second wave of Covid-19 hit the country. Due to restrictions, he stayed back in the village and opted for work from home.
According to Verma, he could sense the uneasiness and extreme hatred his parents harboured towards his wife but he never thought that they would murder her.
“They pre-planned her murder but committed it in such a way that it looked like an altercation leading to sudden provocation for the crime,” Verma alleged adding that his parents were looking for an opportunity to find his wife alone at home to kill her.
On July 10, when Verma went for a morning walk, his neighbour immediately informed his father of Verma’s whereabouts. Verma’s father,
who had left home for work, returned and first sent Verma's mother allegedly to pick a fight with Verma’s wife over some trivial issue. Very soon, they entered into a heated argument.
“Waiting for this opportunity, my father brought a sharp axe and hit my wife on her neck. At the same time, my brother also attacked her with a chopper. She remained helpless,” Verma alleged.
He added, “She fell on the ground and died on the spot. The post-mortem confirmed that she has been murdered in the most heinous manner.”
The local police lodged an FIR and arrested his parents but Verma alleged that the police seem to be of the view that the murder is an act of sudden provocation due to an argument between his wife and parents.
“They were very well aware that if they commit this evil act under the garb of sudden provocation, they will get away with only a few years in jail. But that’s not the case. It is a pre-planned murder, carried out in the most horrific manner,” Verma said.
He has strongly made a plea to the police to make a case of capital punishment for his parents so that "they are hanged to death for their monstrous and despicable act.”
