Sushmita (35) and Karan Dev (36) had been married for several years. He owned an artificial jewellery shop, metres away from his house in Dwarka’s Uttam Nagar. She was a homemaker. They were parents to a six-year-old.
But Karan was allegedly violent towards his wife — he slapped her last year in October, just a day before Karva Chauth, said a police officer.
One-and-a-half years ago, an affair began between Sushmita and Karan’s cousin, Rahul (25), said police. “She confided in him about her husband’s violent behaviour… she had been contemplating leaving him (Karan) for the past year,” said the officer.
Three months ago, Sushmita allegedly told Rahul that Karan’s death was the only way out for her. Since then, the police officer said, the two had been allegedly plotting to kill the husband and make it look like an accident.
The duo put their plan into action on July 13. According to police, Sushmita allegedly laced Karan’s dinner with 12 sleeping pills and the two later electrocuted him.
On Friday, Sushmita and Rahul were arrested for murder. “The two killed Karan and passed it off as an accidental death,” said an officer.
How the plot unravelled
It was from Instagram chats between the two — accessed by investigators — that police pieced together what happened on the night of the murder.
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The chats showed Sushmita’s frustration when the drugs appeared to have no effect on Karan.
“In one message, she wrote that despite giving him so many medicines, he was not dying. She also asked Rahul how long it would take, as it had been three hours since he ate food,” a police officer said.
Rahul then suggested electrocuting him, a police officer said.
“Tie him up with tape and then give him a shock,” one of Rahul’s messages read. The pills eventually rendered Karan unconscious.
Police said Sushmita called Rahul to the house, and together they stripped an extension cord to expose the live wire. They then allegedly wrapped it around Karan’s hand and touched it to his chest — electrocuting him.
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Sushmita broke the news to the family in a panic, said police.
Later that night, the Mata Rooprani Maggo Hospital in Uttam Nagar informed the police about the case. Karan was declared dead on arrival at the hospital, as per the Medico-Legal Case (MLC) report.
At that time, the family members did not raise any allegations, and they did not wish to go ahead with the post-mortem.
However, taking into account the age of the deceased and to rule out any unnatural circumstances, an autopsy was conducted, DCP (Dwarka) Ankit Singh had said earlier.
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Then, on July 16, police said Karan’s brother approached police, expressing suspicions about the involvement of Karan’s wife and cousin in his death. Based on his statement, a preliminary inquiry was initiated.
“While we were waiting for the post-mortem report, the victim’s brother discovered some Instagram chats, which contained serious incriminating content. The brother informed the police, and a written complaint was filed. Based on the complaint, we registered a case on charges of murder and criminal conspiracy,” DCP Ankit Singh had said.
“Sushmita and Rahul are in two-day police custody, and questioning is going on. Their chat history is also being assessed, and further details would be shared soon,” DCP Singh said.