Wife murder: Man changes statement, police unable to find marriage proof

The Haryana Police on Monday said they questioned Mukesh Lakhanpal, who had claimed that highway robbers had tied him to a tree and killed his wife on Friday night. Investigating officials said they questioned Lakhanpal to clarify the sequence of events as he had changed his statement.

The incident was reported from Palwal district in Haryana on National Highway 1, when the couple was returning to their Mayur Vihar residence from Agra. Four robbers reportedly told them to stop their car.

One of them allegedly forced them to drive inside a field.

Lakhanpal, in his statement to the police, said he was tied to a tree, gagged and his wife, Satvinder, was murdered by the robbers.

Her body was found 300 metres from the tree.

According to police sources, Lakhanpal was unable to show officials the place where their car was intercepted. "Lakhanpal was unclear about the location of the incident. He took us to three different places, but could not recall where their car was stopped," a source said.

Police said they had found that his marriage with Satvinder was not registered. Lakhanpal had earlier said they had married four years ago. "He told us that they got married in a temple as per Hindu customs. They did not register their marriage in court. When we checked with the Arya Samaj temple, we did not find any proof of their marriage. Lakhanpal then told us that they got married in a small Sai Baba temple. We are trying to get a proof of their marriage," a senior police officer said.

Police sources said they were also probing if Lakhanpal staged the crime to get his wife's property. He lived with his wife in Mayur Vihar. Satvinder's uncle reportedly owns the flat. "Satvinder's uncle had given this house to her father after he got it in a DDA lottery. The ownership, however, was not transferred. Satvinder was paying instalments for the house," an officer said.

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