Woman killed in UK: Husband denied interim relief, Delhi HC refuses to stay order naming him proclaimed offender

Indian Express

7 hours ago

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to stay an order where the husband of a 24-year-old Delhi woman murdered in East London nine months ago was named as a proclaimed offender. The husband, who is the main accused in the case, has not been nabbed by the Delhi Police yet.
'She (wife) is stated to have died under mysterious circumstances in the UK. This would require consideration…it is a serious matter. If the petitioner (husband) is arrested, his legal remedies can be availed. He can apply for regular bail,' Justice Prathiba M Singh said.
'No notice under Section 41A (notice of appearance before police officer) was served to me…I can be arrested at any time. My properties are at a risk of being attached,' advocate Varun Deswal, who represented the husband, said before the court.
'What is the urgency? You have been declared a proclaimed offender…this matter will require consideration. This is not a case for the vacation bench,' Justice Singh said.
'We have a report from the UK…it is very confidential. It gives details on what happened,' the public prosecutor who represented the state argued. 'Surrender, go to jail and then apply for bail,' he added.
The matter will now be heard on July 15.
The man accused of murdering his wife was purportedly last spotted withdrawing money from a bank in Gurgaon on March 4. He has been on the run since November last year, when his wife's body was found in the boot of his car in East London. A postmortem report had listed strangulation as the preliminary cause of death.
The Delhi Police had earlier issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against him, after he was suspected to have arrived in the national capital. They had subsequently declared him a proclaimed offender on May 1.
According to the latest status report filed by the station house officer of the Palam Village police station in the Delhi High Court, details of the banks from where the accused withdrew money were collected on April 4.
This report was submitted before the Delhi High Court had asked the police to file a status report outlining the steps they have taken to arrest the accused, who has been on the run for months. His mobile was recovered on March 22 from an autorickshaw driver as per the report.
The parents of the husband were arrested on March 14; the mother is currently out on bail while the father is still behind bars.
The police have also announced a Rs 50,000 reward for any information leading to the husband's arrest. Three mobile phones, including that of a relative of the husband (a former Delhi Police official who has been suspended), have also been sent for forensic examination.
In December last year, an FIR was lodged in this case based on a complaint filed by the victim's parents. A case under sections 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 406 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was lodged on December 3, 2024, by the Delhi Police. Later, Section 304B IPC (dowry death) was added.