Delhi woman plots husband’s murder, lover’s mistake and phone trail lead cops to crack case

Crime Branch arrested Soniya, 34 years, resident of Alipur, Delhi, with her boyfriend Rohit.

A 34-year-old woman from Delhi, fed up with years of abuse from her criminal husband, plotted his murder so she could begin a new life with her lover, Delhi police said on Sunday, after cracking the 1-year-old case. The man, a known offender with multiple cases against him, was killed and his body dumped in a canal in Haryana, NDTV reported.

The woman, Soniya, had been married to 42-year-old Pritam Prakash since she was 16. The couple lived in Delhi’s Alipur and had three children, a son and two daughters. According to the police, Pritam was addicted to drugs and had been involved in serious crimes such as illegal possession of weapons, robbery, and kidnapping. Soniya told officers that her repeated attempts to make him quit drugs and crime failed. Instead, he often came home under the influence and assaulted her.

In 2023, Soniya met Rohit, a cab driver with a criminal past, on social media. They began a relationship and discussed getting married. But Pritam stood in the way. Soniya decided the only way forward was to have him killed.

The supari and the killing

On July 2, 2024, Soniya left home and went to her sister Deepa’s house in Haryana’s Sonipat after a heated argument with her husband. Rohit drove her there. During the trip, she asked him to kill Pritam so they could be together. Rohit, who had been involved in four earlier criminal cases including one of murder, refused to kill him himself but offered to arrange a hitman for Rs 6 lakh. Soniya could not arrange such a large amount, so the plan was dropped for the time being.

Three days later, on July 5, Pritam went to Sonipat to bring Soniya back. They argued again. This time, Soniya approached Vijay, her sister’s brother-in-law, and offered him Rs 50,000 to kill her husband, half the Rs 1 lakh he initially demanded.

That night, Soniya told Pritam to stay at her sister’s house. While Soniya and others slept on the terrace, Pritam and Vijay stayed downstairs. Vijay murdered Pritam, wrapped his body in a sheet, and dumped it near a drain. Soniya kept Pritam’s mobile phone and later gave it to Rohit, asking him to destroy it.

A few days later, the body was recovered from the drain but remained unidentified. Meanwhile, Soniya filed a missing complaint in Delhi’s Alipur, claiming Pritam had been missing since July 5.

Phone trail exposed plot

Delhi Police’s Crime Branch started looking into the disappearance of Pritam, who had been declared a proclaimed offender. Detectives noticed that his phone was still active. Tracking its last location to Sonipat, they discovered Rohit was using it.

Despite Soniya’s instructions, Rohit had not destroyed the phone. Police kept him under surveillance and, given his criminal background, eventually detained him. During questioning, he first claimed he had bought the phone from someone, but later confessed to his relationship with Soniya and the murder plot.

Rohit revealed that Soniya had paid Vijay to kill Pritam and dispose of the body. He also admitted that they planned to marry after Pritam’s death.

Following Rohit’s confession, the police arrested Soniya. She initially denied involvement but later admitted she had arranged and paid for her husband’s murder. She told police that Vijay had even sent her photos of Pritam’s body after dumping it.

Delhi Police contacted their counterparts in Haryana, who confirmed that the body found in the drain was unidentified, but DNA samples had been preserved. Soniya also revealed that after the murder, she sold one of Pritam’s vehicles for Rs 2.8 lakh, gave some money to Rohit, and spent the rest.

Soniya and Rohit are now in police custody, while Vijay, who was arrested earlier in an unrelated theft case, remains in jail. Police also revealed that Rohit got married to another woman in April this year, despite his relationship with Soniya.