An autorickshaw driver walked into a police station in Agra Friday afternoon and told officers that his younger brother, who was reported missing in May, had been killed by his wife and buried beneath the bathroom of their house in Renukadham.
Acting on the information, the police went to the house and excavated a section of the bathroom, where they recovered skeletal remains buried about three feet below the surface. The remains were sent for a post-mortem examination, and the report is awaited.
The police have registered a murder case against the alleged victim’s wife, Ruby Sharma, 35, a homemaker, and detained her for questioning.
“We are awaiting the post-mortem report before deciding on further action in the case. Ruby Sharma is detained for questioning,” said the Assistant Superintendent of Police in Agra.
‘Years of harassment’
A senior police officer said Ruby Sharma confessed during questioning and claimed she had grown increasingly distressed by years of alleged harassment at the hands of her husband. According to her account to the police, her husband, Surendra Sharma, would return home drunk, threaten and assault her and their two daughters, aged 13 and six.
The officer added that Surendra Sharma’s father, Radhey Shyam Sharma, had been a government employee and died several years ago. With Surendra Sharma unemployed and Ruby Sharma a homemaker, the family largely depended on the government pension received by Surendra Sharma’s mother. Ruby Sharma also earned a small income by stitching clothes for neighbours.
“She told us that on the evening of May 18, after her husband returned home, she received a call from a relative in Dhampur, Rajasthan. The relative alleged that Surendra Sharma, while under the influence of alcohol, had misbehaved with and assaulted family members. They also threatened to lodge a police complaint against him and implicate her in the case,” the officer further said.
According to the police, Ruby Sharma claimed that the call left her frightened and angry, and that she decided to kill her husband in an attempt to put an end to what she described as persistent harassment. She then allegedly sent her two children and mother-in-law to the home of her brother-in-law, Anil Sharma, Surendra’s elder brother, who lived in another part of Agra.
“Ruby Sharma claimed that later that night, she prepared kheer and mixed a large quantity of sleeping pills into it, and served it to Surendra Sharma. She told us that he died after consuming it, following which she decided to bury his body inside the house,” a police officer said.
Ruby and Surendra Sharma had been married for about 16 years.
According to the police, Ruby Sharma later bought sand from a neighbour who dealt in construction materials and asked for it to be left outside the house. “She allegedly dug a pit in the bathroom, placed the body inside, added salt, and covered it with sand, which she carried into the house herself. Two days later, she hired a mason to plaster over the bathroom floor,” the officer said.
Thereafter, Ruby Sharma allegedly began telling relatives and neighbours that her husband had gone missing and had not returned home. On May 26, she lodged a missing-person complaint for Surendra Sharma at Sikandra police station.
Heightened emotions
The police said Ruby Sharma called Surendra Sharma’s elder brother, Anil Sharma, to the house earlier this week, where the two became embroiled in an argument over the family’s government pension. Anil Sharma allegedly demanded his share of the money, but Ruby Sharma refused.
During the conversation, Ruby Sharma allegedly told him that she had killed Surendra Sharma and buried his body inside the house. Stunned by the disclosure, Anil Sharma went to the police station and informed officers, the police said.
The police suspect that Ruby Sharma disclosed Surendra Sharma’s death to Anil Sharma in a moment of heightened emotion.
Rajeev Tyagi, Station House Officer of Sikandra police station, said the police had so far found no evidence suggesting the involvement of anyone other than Ruby Sharma in the case.
The bathroom from where the skeletal remains were recovered. (Photo Credit: Special Arrangement) 
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