Jaipur: The chilling Indore honeymoon murder case of Sonam Raghuvanshi had barely faded from public memory when a strikingly similar crime surfaced in Rajasthan’s Sri Ganganagar, this time not on a tourist trip, but on a deserted village road.
At the centre of the plot was a newly married woman who allegedly conspired with her longtime lover to eliminate her husband, just three months after marriage.
The wife accused of plotting her husband’s killing has been taken into police remand.
Investigators said the woman conspired with her longtime lover and his accomplices, planning the murder days before luring her husband to a deserted road where he was brutally killed.
According to police investigations, Anjali (23) had been in a relationship with her boyfriend Sanjay alias Sanju (25) for nearly seven years. Her family was aware of the affair, but despite her reluctance, she was married off to Ashish Kumar (27) on October 30, 2025.
Ashish, a Bachelor of Science graduate, had recently joined a private school as a teacher and was trying to settle into married life, unaware that a deadly conspiracy was already brewing.
Much like the Indore honeymoon case, where trust became the weapon, Anjali allegedly used familiarity and routine to execute the plan.
After marriage, she repeatedly asked Ashish for permission to pursue higher studies in Sri Ganganagar, intending to live close to her boyfriend, but her request was denied.
Police said this rejection became the turning point. Sixteen days before the murder, Anjali visited her parental home, where she secretly met Sanjay.
During this visit, the two allegedly planned Ashish’s murder in detail.
On the night of January 30, Anjali convinced Ashish to go out for a walk after dinner. On a deserted stretch of road near village 1 KLM in the Rawla police station area, Sanjay and his two accomplices – Rohit alias Rocky (20) and Badal alias Siddharth (20), were already hiding in the bushes.
Acting on Anjali’s signal, they attacked Ashish with sticks, repeatedly striking his head. When Ashish did not die from the blows, the attackers strangled him with a muffler, ensuring his death. The post-mortem examination report later confirmed severe head injuries and death due to asphyxiation.
In a bid to mislead investigators, Anjali allegedly handed over Ashish’s mobile phone and her own earrings to the attackers to stage the crime as a robbery or accident.
She was later found lying unconscious near the body. Ashish was declared dead at the Rawla Community Health Centre.
Superintendent of Police Amrita Duhan confirmed that Anjali, her boyfriend Sanjay, and the two accomplices have been arrested.
The three male accused are on a five-day police remand, while Anjali has been sent on a two-day remand. Further interrogation is underway.
Investigators said the case mirrors the Indore honeymoon murder in motive and method, where a spouse, driven by an unresolved love affair, turned trust into a trap.
In both cases, the victims were led to their deaths by the person they trusted the most.
As police continue to uncover details, the Sri Ganganagar murder has once again raised disturbing questions about forced marriages, hidden relationships, and how love, when entangled with desperation, can turn fatally cold-blooded, they said.
(IANS)
