Jharkhand man kills wife, fakes road accident to claim Rs 15 lakh insurance

A man allegedly killed his wife in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh and then fabricated a road accident story to claim Rs 15 lakh in insurance money, which he had taken out in her name just three months earlier.

The woman, Sevanti Kumari, died under suspicious circumstances on October 9. Her husband, Mukesh, told her parents and relatives that she had died in a road accident.

However, Sevanti’s father, Mahavir Mehta, was not convinced by Mukesh’s claim and lodged a complaint with the local police. He also informed investigators that his son-in-law had purchased a Rs 15 lakh insurance policy in his daughter’s name.

An investigation was launched based on Mehta’s complaint. During the initial inquiry, police found that the victim’s body showed very few bruises, unusual for a road accident, raising their suspicions. After intense questioning, Mukesh allegedly confessed to strangling his wife to death and staging the accident to claim the insurance payout.

Senior police officer Ajit Kumar Vimal told reporters that inconsistencies in Mukesh’s statements and his behavior after his wife’s death made him the prime suspect.

“We noticed that the deceased’s body had very few injuries, which is uncommon in a road accident,” Vimal said. “Moreover, Mukesh’s absence from his wife’s funeral further deepened our suspicion. We intensified the investigation and questioned him at length, which led to the revelation of the truth.”

Mukesh has been arrested and produced before a local court, which remanded him to judicial custody.

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