Delhi man kills live-in partner, smashes face to hide identity; cops use AI to reconstruct image, nab killer

AGRA: A 25-year-old man from Delhi, his mother and stepfather were arrested in the national capital early Tuesday for allegedly strangling the man's live-in partner to death, smashing her face and then dumping the body on the Yamuna Expressway in Agra to "destroy her identity".According to police, the body of the 25-year-old woman was found wrapped in a blanket in a cemented drain on the e-way under the jurisdiction of Agra's Khandauli thana on Feb 6. Cops said her disfigured face was reconstructed with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the information passed on through various platforms and media, which eventually helped them get to the culprits."The victim was identified by her sister on Monday through a media report," SHO Khandauli, Kuldeep Singh, told TOI.

Based on the sister's complaint, an FIR was registered at Khandauli under sections 103 (1) (murder), 238 (destroying evidence) and 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS.During the investigation, cops found that the woman was a permanent resident of Mahoba district in UP and knew the main accused, Sunny Kumar, since 2021. "For the past five years, the woman had lived with Sunny in Shalimar Bagh. Recently, they shifted to a rented place in Burari," said an officer.

According to cops, Sunny used to run a prostitution racket, catering to customers in hotels and other places, and "started putting pressure on his partner to engage in prostitution activities, too, which she refused". Details accessed by TOI further indicated that Sunny had cases registered against him in Jhansi under Arms Act, Gangster Act, and ‘attempt to murder'.The woman also came to know about Sunny's relationships with other women, which led to frequent arguments, Agra ADCP Aditya said.

After one such argument on Feb 4, Sunny, in a fit of rage, strangled her with a rope. When his mother and stepfather came to know about it, they helped him to dispose of the body.According to cops, they wrapped the body in a blanket, sealed it with black tape from all sides, packed it, went to a friend, took his car, and on the night of Feb 4, placed the body in the vehicle and drove to a deserted stretch where they dumped it before returning to Delhi.