New Delhi, 4 Aug

Tired of her criminal husband's repeated assaults under the influence of drugs, a 34-year-old Delhi woman, Soniya, plotted his murder to start afresh with her lover. Her husband, Pritam Prakash, had a long criminal record and was a proclaimed offender. The plan was foiled when his phone, kept with Soniya’s lover, led cops to the truth.

Soniya married Pritam when she was just 16 and had three children. But Pritam was addicted to drugs and crime and would often beat her. In 2023, Soniya met Rohit, a cab driver with a criminal past, on social media. They began a relationship and decided to marry. But Pritam stood in the way.

On 2 July, 2023, after a fight with Pritam, Soniya went to her sister’s home in Sonipat with Rohit. She asked him to kill Pritam, but Rohit demanded ₹6 lakh to hire someone. Soniya couldn’t arrange the money. Later, she convinced her sister’s brother-in-law, Vijay, to do it for Rs 50,000.

On 5 July, Pritam went to Sonipat to take Soniya home but stayed the night. Vijay killed him and dumped the body in a canal. Soniya filed a missing complaint in Delhi and gave Pritam’s phone to Rohit to destroy. But Rohit didn’t destroy his phone and kept with him.

Months later, the Delhi Police Crime Branch, probing Pritam’s disappearance, found his phone active and traced it to Rohit. After intense questioning, Rohit confessed. Soniya too admitted her role and said she had paid Vijay after the murder. She sold a vehicle, gave Rohit some money, and kept the rest.

Rohit and Soniya were arrested. Vijay, already in jail for theft, was linked to the murder. Ironically, Rohit married someone else in April, even as the murder plot unraveled.