Teen Wife Kills Husband, Blames Death On COVID-19

A 19-year-old woman and her paramour have been arrested for murdering her husband and blaming the death on Covid-19.

The shocking incident was reported from Pune city in Maharashtra, India.

According to the police, the victim, identified as 27-year-old Manohar Namdeo Hande, was found dead at his home on May 24.

Following the death, his 19-year-old wife, Ashwini Hande, told the police that her husband had tested positive for COVID-19 and succumbed to the deadly virus.

However, following a preliminary investigation, police officers learned that the man had died of strangulation and not due to COVID-19.

"Initially, we had registered a case of accidental death, but the post-mortem report revealed that Manohar had died of strangulation," the Times of India quoted Senior Inspector Rajendra Mokashi of the Loni Kalbhor police as saying.

The investigation revealed that the man had tested positive for the virus earlier and had also recovered from it.

"Some of the relatives too were suspicious of Manohar’s sudden death after recovery," Mokashi said. "Soon, we realized that Hande had recovered from Covid and was fine," he added.

The investigators narrowed down their suspicion on the victim’s wife and began to closely inspect her call records. It was revealed that the woman and her lover, Gaurav Santosh Sutar, were together at the time of the incident.

"Ashwini and Sutar knew each other before she got married to Manohar Hande around a year ago. The two were in love and they wanted to get rid of Hande to get together," Mokashi said.

"We probed call detail records and it was established that Ashwini and Sutar were together at Hande’s residence on the night of the incident."

"Our investigation suggests that the night before Manohar was found dead, Sutar had given Ashwini a packet of sleeping pills. She later mixed these pills in the milk and served them to Manohar. After he was sedated, Ashwini and Sutar smothered and strangled Manohar to death. They later floated the story that Manohar had died of Covid," the Senior Inspector said, the New Indian Express reported.

Both suspects were arrested on Saturday, the official said. The charges imposed on them were unclear at this time.