Haryana news: Married man kills live-in partner, sets house to fire to pass it off as accident

A married businessman allegedly stabbed his live-in partner in Haryana's Sonipat and set her body on fire. In a bid to make it appear like a fire accident, he set fire to his house too. The police  arrested the accused, Upkar, on Sunday, and said he killed the woman, Sarita, over a domestic dispute.

Sarita was Upkar's schoolmate. After separating from her husband, Sarita lived with Upkar for six years.

On October 25, Upkar killed Sarita in Rishi Colony in the Civil Lines area and set fire to the house to mask the crime as a fire accident, the police said.

"Upkar's wife was aware of his live-in relationship, while Sarita had divorced her husband, whom she married in 2004. Both of them were living as 'husband-wife' for six years," said Manish Kumar, Crime Unit, Ganaur.

Upkar, from Vishnu Nagar in Yamunanagar, was apprehended by the police when the forensic analysis of Sarita's body, who hailed from Zirakpur, Punjab, and taught at a local college, indicated the murder was a clear case of stabbing. The body was set afire after that.

A court has granted the police two days of custody of Upkar. He will be interrogated and taken to the crime scene, an investigating official said.

The crime was unravelled after Sarita's brother, Trishla from Punjab, lodged a complaint at the Civil Lines police station in Sonipat.

In his complaint, Trishla said Sarita had divorced her husband, Kapil, with whom she had a daughter, and started living with Upkar in Sonipat in 2018. They often had disputes. He alleged that Sarita had told him that Upkar had called her on October 20 and demanded money.

On October 25, Trishla said, he received a phone call from his sister who said that Upkar was trying to strangulate her, but the phone went silent soon after. Later that day, he received information that Sarita's house caught fire, and she died in the blaze.