A 36-year-old married man, who allegedly barged into his former girlfriend’s house with an axe to stop her wedding and kill her, was arrested and later died after setting himself on fire inside a police post in Faridabad, officers said on Tuesday. Senior police official said while they had seized the axe at the time of arrest, officers were unaware of the accused being in possession of petrol.
The deceased was a resident of Kosi in Mathura district, Uttar Pradesh, police said. The incident took place around 8.35pm on Sunday inside the Sector 11 police post, officers aware of the case added.
According to police, after receiving first aid at a private hospital in Faridabad, the man was shifted to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries during treatment at 3.25am on Tuesday.
Police said the man, who was married in 2015 and had three children, had befriended a 20-year-old woman from Ram Nagar in Faridabad’s Sector 8 and married her in an Arya Samaj temple three years ago. When she later insisted on getting their marriage legally registered, the man revealed that he was already married. The girl’s father then intervened and settled the matter privately, without approaching police, officers added.
However, upon learning that the woman was set to marry another man on Sunday, the man allegedly planned to kill her and immolate himself, officers said. He arrived in Faridabad from Mathura around 5.30pm, carrying an axe and a two-litre petrol bottle in his backpack. He barged into the woman’s house but was overpowered by guests, who snatched the axe and alerted police. Kumar was then taken to the Sector 11 police post and kept in an investigation room, which was locked from outside, they said. Police said that the bag containing the petrol was kept near his feet at the time. Officers said the suspect had misguided the cops by telling them that it was a bottle filled with drinking water at the time of arrest.
Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad Police, said, “The girl’s wedding was already completed by the time he reached. His actual motive was to kill the girl and douse himself in flames using the petrol.”
Yadav added, “Police had seized the axe, but none had any inkling that he was carrying petrol too. Failing to execute his plan, the suspect used up the petrol to immolate himself and died.” He said Kumar had bought the petrol from a fuel station in Hodal, Palwal, and that CCTV footage of both the purchase and the attack had been secured.
“Since it is a case of custodial death, a judicial inquiry will be carried out as per law. Kumar’s family has pressed neither any charges against police nor the girl’s family,” Yadav said.