Ghaziabad, May 16 (IANS): An 80-year-old man identified as Harpal killed his 72-year-old wife Urmila with an axe at their residence in Rawali Kala village in Ghaziabad’s Muradnagar area before walking to the Rawali police outpost and confessing to the crime, police said on Saturday. After receiving the information, police rushed to the spot and found the elderly woman lying on a cot in a pool of blood, following which she was immediately taken to the Community Health Centre where doctors declared her dead. The accused has been taken into custody and the body sent for post-mortem examination, with further legal proceedings underway. ACP Modinagar Bhaskar Verma confirmed that Harpal personally came to the police outpost on May 16 and informed officials that he had murdered his wife with an axe earlier.
According to family members, Harpal had been staying at his daughter’s house and his mental health had reportedly been unstable for some time, with frequent disputes between the elderly couple also reported by the family. The deceased woman’s grandson Kunal told police that his grandfather often picked fights with the family over minor issues, and that at the time of the incident he and his brother were sleeping in another room while their parents had gone to Meerut, adding that they came to know about the incident only after police arrived in the morning. Police are continuing their investigation to ascertain the exact circumstances behind the murder of the elderly woman.