A 22-year-old woman and her partner have been detained in Greater Noida for allegedly killing a mall employee, officials said on Thursday.
The accused, identified as Payal Bhati, faked her death by killing another woman and dressing the corpse with her own clothes.
The family members of the deceased had lodged a complaint with the Bisrakh police station after she had gone missing last month, they said.
Accused Payal Bhati and her partner Ajay Thakur had allegedly killed Hema Chaudhary, who worked at a store in a shopping mall, by slitting her wrist and distorted her face to prevent identification, an official said.
"The accused killed Chaudhary after befriending her as she had similar physical attributes to Bhati. They had also planted a purported suicide note in the name of Payal Bhati and made it appear like a case of suicide," a police officer said.
Based on the suicide note, the body was handed over to Bhati’s relatives, who cremated the body. The note mentioned, "My face is now burnt and I don't want to live."
The motive of the murder is yet to be known, police said.
Two senior police officers said the details of the investigation in the case would be revealed on Friday.
Police said that the accused took the victim to Bhati's house, killed her and distorted her face to make her identification difficult. Bhati then allegedly dressed the corpse in her clothes to fake her own death and then eloped with her partner.
When contacted, two senior police officers said the details of the investigation in the case would be revealed on Friday.
Acocording to an initial probe, Payal Bhati's parents had died by suicide about six months ago. She held her brother's in-laws responsible for their deaths.
The probe also suggested that Payal's relatives had taken a loan from her father. They started harassing him when he asked them to repay the money back which forced his father to end his life. Payal staged her own death to frame her relatives in a false case.
On the other hand, Payal's grandfather has claimed that she wanted to marry Ajay but she feared that her family would not approve of their relationship. She then faked her own death to create an impression that she is dead.
(With PTI Inputs)
