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Two men kill neighbor in UP’s Jewar for ‘poisoning minds of their wives to leave them’
By the following evening, both men were arrested for her murder. According to police, the accused killed Ranjana out of resentment, believing she was responsible for their wives leaving them.
Police have registered a case under sections 103(1) and 238A of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Jewar police station.
On the night of November 19, a local resident sensed something was amiss inside a dilapidated house in Jahangirpur’s Mohalla Kumharan. Moments later, Jewar police received a call about a possible body hidden inside the ruins of the building.
When police reached the spot, they found a shallow pit covered with soil. Beneath it lay the body of Ranjana — wife of Mahesh and a woman well known in the neighbourhood — who was often seen chatting with the spouses of two men living a few doors away: Bunty and Rakesh.
By the following evening, both men were arrested for her murder. According to police, the accused killed Ranjana out of resentment, believing she was responsible for their wives leaving them.
For years, the three families had lived alongside one another, bound by the easy familiarity of sharing the same neighbourhood. Their wives were close friends. Bunty and Rakesh had even visited Ranjana’s home with their spouses.
But over time, that warmth slowly paved the way for resentment after their spouses left them. Four to five years ago, Rakesh’s wife left home after an argument and eloped with another man. Six months ago, Bunty’s wife also moved out, shifting to Delhi after repeated disputes with him.
In both cases, police said, the men convinced themselves of one thing: that Ranjana had manipulated their wives into leaving and was responsible for “poisoning their minds”.
In a statement to the press, Noida police said this belief was the trigger behind the murder. According to police, the two men had plotted the murder plan for days. On the night of November 18, they went to Ranjana’s house, forced her to open the door, and entered. Once inside, police said, they wrapped a scarf tightly around her neck and strangled her.
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To make it appear as though she had taken her own life, they then used her shawl to hang her from the ceiling fan. With no one else at home, the body remained hanging through the night.
By the next day, fearing that the body would be discovered, the men decided to move it elsewhere. After digging a pit in a deserted, broken-down house nearby, they returned to Ranjana’s home later that night. They pulled the body down from the fan and carried it to the abandoned structure, where they placed it in the pit and covered it with soil.
What they had not anticipated was how quickly the body would be found. Acting on a tip-off, Jewar police said they detained the two men within hours of the discovery. A shovel, a towel, and the shawl used to commit the crime were recovered from their possession, officers added.
Police have registered a case under sections 103(1) and 238A of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Jewar police station.
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