‘Murder-suicide’ at Manesar hotel linked to forced marriage: Police

The suspected murder-suicide by a couple in a hotel in Manesar was probably fallout of the deceased woman’s family finalizing her wedding by putting pressure on her as they had come to known about her relationship, police said on Wednesday.

Investigators said that the 20-year-old woman hailing from Shikohpur, who was a first-year student of Bachelor of Arts in a college in Gurugram, was scheduled to get married on March 6.

They said that the investigations indicate that her wedding was finalised in a haste after the family had come to know about her relationship with the 23-year-old deceased man from Lokri in Pataudi, and were against it.

Police had recovered the duo’s body with a bullet wound in each of their chests from a room of the hotel, locked from inside, at about 11pm on Monday.

Deepak Kumar Jewaria, DCP Manesar, said that after quizzing the girl’ family they got to know that she was going to get married on March 6.

“Cards were distributed and all the purchases were made. There could be a strong possibility that this pressure for marriage on the woman made the duo decide to end their lives,” he said.

An elderly villager from Shikohpur, while talking to HT, said that the family was jubilant for the wedding as the deceased woman was their eldest child.

“They were aware of her relationship with the Pataudi man. The woman was probably against her marriage with the groom finalised by her family,” he said, adding that they have got to know that the duo earlier studied together from where their relationship had started.

Meanwhile, a group of 50-60 residents from Lokri reached the Manesar police station and protested on Wednesday that the man was murdered and no FIR was registered even after his family had submitted a written complaint on Tuesday.

A villager said that they won’t collect the man’s body until police register a murder case on his family’s complaint. “They have instead registered a murder case against him on the basis of the complaint of the woman’s family,” he said.

The woman’s body was handed over to her family after an autopsy on Wednesday while the man’s body was still in the mortuary as none arrived for it.

DCP Jewaria, said that some elements in Lokri were misguiding the family members of the deceased man and were attempting to create a law and order problem. “We have already accepted the complaint of the deceased man’s family and have even provided them with acknowledgement on Tuesday,” he said.

Jewaria said that they were still trying to figure out the sequence of events that had unfolded inside the hotel room after the couple had reached there at 11.30am on Monday. “Forensic and autopsy reports will clear several things,” he added.

A 20-year-old woman and a 23-year-old man were found dead in a suspected murder-suicide in a Manesar hotel late Monday night, with police suggesting that the incident was triggered by pressure from the woman’s family to marry someone else. Investigators believe the woman’s upcoming wedding, scheduled for March 6, may have driven the couple to take the extreme step.

The deceased woman, a first-year Bachelor of Arts student from Gurugram, originally from Shikohpur, while the man was a resident of Lokri in Pataudi. Their bodies, each bearing a bullet wound in the chest, were discovered inside a locked hotel room around 11 pm on Monday.

According to Deepak Kumar Jewaria, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Manesar, the woman’s family had arranged her wedding in haste after discovering her relationship with the deceased man. “Cards were distributed, and all purchases had been made. There is a strong possibility that the pressure to marry led the couple to end their lives,” Jewaria said.

An elderly villager from Shikohpur confirmed that the family was aware of the relationship and had finalized the marriage against the woman’s wishes. “She was probably opposed to the match arranged by her family. The couple had known each other from their time studying together,” he said.

Meanwhile, the case took a new turn as around 50-60 residents from Lokri gathered at the Manesar police station on Wednesday, alleging that the man was murdered. They protested against the police for not registering a murder case despite a written complaint from his family submitted on Tuesday.

A villager stated that they would not claim the man’s body until an FIR was filed based on his family’s complaint. “Instead of investigating his murder, police have registered a case against him based on the woman’s family’s complaint,” he alleged.

The woman’s body was handed over to her family after an autopsy on Wednesday, but the man’s remains remained in the mortuary as his family refused to take custody.

DCP Jewaria said that certain individuals in Lokri were misleading the deceased man’s family and attempting to incite unrest. “We have already accepted their complaint and provided them with an acknowledgement on Tuesday,” he said.

Police are still reconstructing the events leading up to the couple’s deaths. “The forensic and autopsy reports will clarify several aspects of the case,” Jewaria added.