Man kills girlfriend, her friend, then ends life in police lockup in Jharkhand

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A 25-year-old man, accused of murdering two women, ended his life in Jharkhand's Giridih district on Tuesday following his arrest, The Indian Express reported citing officials.

The man, Shrikant Choudhary, allegedly killed his 23-year-old girlfriend Soni Devi, suspecting her of having an affair with someone else, and also murdered her friend Rinku Devi, who was the only eyewitness in the case.

The two women, who were found murdered, had been missing since Thursday, following which a complaint was lodged with the police. Following this, Choudhary, a resident of Kharsan village, was arrested on Monday, police was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.

After his arrest, he took the police to Golgo Pahari forest, near Nimadih village in Jharkhand’s Giridih district, where he had hidden the women’s bodies. Sub Divisional Police Officer Rajendra Prasad told The Indian Express that after Choudhary was brought back to the local police station, a crowd gathered outside.

“Villagers, especially women, gathered outside the police station demanding that the accused be handed over to them. They said he had killed two women and should be killed in the same way. They threatened that if handed over, they would kill him and go to jail themselves. The situation became tense, but we managed to pacify the crowd,” Prasad was quoted as saying.

The SDPO told The Indian Express that he then left the police station to attend a press conference. “By the time I returned, I was informed that the accused had hanged himself in the lockup with a cable wire and a flag rope. When discovered, he was still alive and was rushed first to a local health centre and later to Sadar Hospital, about 70 km away. He died there during treatment,” Prasad added.

Choudhary’s death, was “completely unexpected,” the SDPO said, adding, “We could not imagine he would take such a decision. He had listened to villagers saying that even if he came out alive, they would kill him.”

According to the officer, Choudhary had been in a relationship with Soni Devi for two years. The woman, in her third marriage, had a husband lodged in jail in a murder case, the report added.

“Choudhary suspected her of having relationships with other men. He came back from Mumbai, where he worked in the film industry, and killed her in the forest by strangulation as a form of revenge. To erase evidence, he also killed her companion, a middle-aged woman with seven children,” he said, adding, “This was not the first time they had met (in the forest). They used to meet like this every time, and Rinku Devi would wait outside the forest to help the couple by informing them if anyone approached.”

As per the report, villagers had earlier warned Choudhary against the relationship and fined him over Rs 1 lakh, but the affair continued. Prasad denied that there was any custodial violence against Choudhary and said the National Human Rights Commission may conduct an inquiry.

“No one can say the police killed him. It was his own act. Legally, too, until the FIR was registered, he could not be kept in the formal lockup. He used the small window of time when officers were occupied with crowd control,” he was quoted by The Indian Express as saying.