Maha: Death of woman in car fire turns out to be murder; husband held

Days after a woman was found charred to death inside a car in Jalna district of Maharashtra, police have arrested her husband on the charge of killing her and cooking up a false story, an official said on Thursday.

The man killed his wife by setting her ablaze inside their car in the early hours of June 24 while returning from Shegaon, a temple town in neighbouring Buldhana district, he said. The accused hailed from Karla village in Mantha tehsil of Jalna.

As per the version told by the accused to the police earlier, he was returning home from the Gajanan Maharaj temple in Shegaon along with his wife in their car. However, their vehicle was hit from behind by a pickup van near Karla village on Lonar Road, the official said.

He stopped the car and entered into an argument with the van driver. However, his car suddenly caught fire and as the doors of his vehicle could not be opened, his wife got stuck inside. He told the police that he could not save his wife despite frantic attempts and she was charred to death, he added.

Police inspector Marooti Khedkar, however, said, ”We found discrepancies in his statement. Contrary to his account, the car showed no sign of getting hit by another vehicle. We suspected his role and the probe confirmed that he murdered his wife.” The couple got married 13 years ago. However, they did not have a child, he said.

”The accused used to harass his wife and threaten to divorce her as he wanted a male child. He used to argue with her over the issue. Finally, he hatched a conspiracy to eliminate her and their visit to Shegaon was part of the plan,” he added.

Taking advantage of the fact that the road they were travelling from Shegaon to Karla does not witness much traffic, especially at night, he poured kerosene on the car and set it ablaze with wife inside, Khedkar said. ”The accused misled the police that the fire erupted after the accident, but it was he who killed his wife by setting her ablaze,” the official said, adding that he was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).