In Bihar, new bride arrested for murdering husband over an ‘affair' with uncle

Indian Express

04-07-2025

A week after her new husband was shot dead by unidentified assailants, Gunja had unexpected guests at her doorstep. It was the police, who had come to arrest her for plotting the murder with her uncle, with whom she had been having an affair.
On July 2, Gunja, 30, was arrested for the murder Priyanshu Kumar, a 31-year-old farmer from Barwan in Bihar's Aurangabad district. According to the police, she had been in a relationship with Jeevan Singh, the husband of her paternal aunt, for a few years and had been forced into a marriage with Priyanshu.
The suspects Gunja and Singh had allegedly hired hitmen for the job and have been booked for murder under the BNS. Two other people have been arrested in the case but Singh is currently on the run, police said.
At the time of the murder, Priyanshu and Gunja had been married for only 45 days. According to the police, Priyanshu Kumar had been on his way back from visiting a cousin at Uttar Pradesh's Chandauli district when he was killed about 1 km away from Lembokhap village on June 24.
He was riding a motorcycle back home from Nabinagar police station with two of his friends when the shooting occurred. 'Around 7:30 in the evening, unidentified assailants opened fire on him on the road,' his younger brother Himanshu said, adding that until her arrest, the family had been unaware of her involvement.
Priyanshu was immediately taken to the Referral Hospital in Nabinagar but died during treatment. A week later, a special investigation team looking into the case arrested Gunja, who the police claim 'had an illicit relationship with her uncle'.
'During investigation, the SIT found that her uncle had previously broken off several of Gunja's marriage proposals,' said Aurangabad SP Ambrish Rahul. 'Eventually, her father arranged her marriage with the deceased. But even after the wedding, Gunja and her uncle continued to communicate frequently, which led to disturbances in her marital life. Gunja and her uncle then decided to have Priyanshu killed'.
It was Jeevan Singh who allegedly hired the hitmen after Gunja provided him with her husband's travel plans. Meanwhile, two other suspects in the case — Jayashankar Chaubey and Mukesh Sharma – allegedly provided SIM cards to the shooters.
'During interrogation, Gunja confessed to her involvement, stating that she had been in a relationship with her uncle for fifteen years and was unhappy with her marriage,' he said. 'All three accused have been remanded to judicial custody, while efforts are ongoing to arrest Jeevan Singh and other absconding suspects.'