OPINION | Live-in relationships: Keep your parents informed
In Mumbai, the victim was living with her boyfriend in a live-in relationship for three years. Her partner killed her and hid the body inside the box of his bed.
The brutal murders of two girls in Delhi and Mumbai recently by their live-in partners highlight a new evil that has afflicted our society in general and our young generation in particular. In both the cases, the killers were their boyfriends. Both the victims were in a live-in relationship.
In Delhi, the boyfriend attended his betrothal ceremony in the morning, and in the evening, he strangulated his live-in partner to death with a cellphone data cable. By next morning, he hid the body inside a refrigerator in his dhaba, locked it, and in the evening, he led a ‘baraat’ to marry the girl he was betrothed to.
In Mumbai, the victim was living with her boyfriend in a live-in relationship for three years. Her partner killed her and hid the body inside the box of his bed. He sold off all other goods in the flat and fled to another state. In both the cases, the female partners were pressing their boyfriends for marriage. In both cases, the girls’ families did not know that their daughters were in a live-in relationship.
In both cases, the boyfriends murdered their live-in partners hoping they would not be caught by police. It is surprising how these boys were living a normal life after committing heinous murders.
Such horrendous crimes should make us all sit up and think. Both these incidents will surely worry all those parents whose daughters stay away from the family to study or work in other cities. Cases of live-in relationship among young couples is on the rise in India’s metros, and such murders should act as a caution for all of us.
NIKKI YADAV
The girl, Nikki Yadav, hailed from Jhajjar, near Rohtak, Haryana. Her father runs a car garage in Gurugram. Her parents wanted their daughter to study hard and live a good life. While attending coaching classes in Delhi five years ago, she struck a friendship with Sahil Gehlot. Nikki and Sahil joined a private university in Greater Noida. Nikki was doing post-graduation in English Honours, while Sahil left his education and stayed in Uttam Nagar. Nikki and Sahil rented a flat posing as a married couple. Sahil’s parents were against this relationship. They fixed his wedding for February 10.
A day before his wedding, Sahil attended his ring engagement ceremony. Nikki came to know about this and pressed him for marriage. Sahil took her for an outing in his car. On February 9 night, they went in his car first to Nizamuddin railway station, and from there to Kashmere Gate. While travelling, Sahil strangulated Nikki inside the car by using a cellphone cord, tied the body with the front seat belt, and took it to his dhaba in Mitraon village. He hid the body in the fridge, locked it, went home and the next day, he joined the ‘baraat’ and was married to another girl.
Nobody had a whiff about the heinous crime that Sahil had committed. Before her murder, Nikki was confident about her relationship with Sahil, because he had booked a railway ticket for both to visit Goa. Delhi Police investigators suspect that Sahil had prepared a cold-blooded plan to murder Nikki and wanted to dispose of her body later, so that he could live a normal life with his newly married wife.
His plan went awry when Nikki’s father rang up Sahil to ask about his daughter’s whereabouts. Sahil told him that she had gone to Dehradun and Mussoorie and would return in the next two or three days. His father suspected, and informed Delhi Police on February 14. During questioning, Sahil first tried to mislead, but by then, police had noted down the last location of Nikki’s cellphone. Sahil broke down after sustained interrogation, and the body was recovered.
The last rites of Nikki were performed in Jhajjar on Wednesday evening. Special Commissioner, Crime Branch of Delhi Police Ravindra Yadav said, it could have been difficult to crack the case, had Sahil managed to dispose of the body. The case is almost identical to the case of Shradha Walker, whose body was cut to pieces and thrown in a forest by her live-in partner Aftab Poonawala in south Delhi, several months ago.
MEGHA
In Palghar, near Mumbai, Hardik Shah, son of a diamond merchant was in a live-in relationship with Megha for the last three years. Both of them had rented a flat in Nalasopara a few months ago.
Hardik was unemployed while Megha worked as a nurse. This led to frequent quarrels and then Hardik decided to kill her. Megha was insisting on marriage, but Hardik was unwilling. In a fit of anger during a quarrel, Hardik strangulated Megha, hid her body inside the bed box, and started selling off all the articles including cooler, fridge and washing machine, at throwaway prices. Hardik then locked the flat and fled.
When foul odour emanated from the flat, the neighbours informed police and the body was found inside the box of the bed. Police traced Hardik in Rajasthan by checking his cellphone locations. Hardik Shah’s parents had disowned him after hearing about his live-in relationship.
First, Shradha Walker, then Nikki in Delhi, and then Megha in Mumbai. All three were live-in partners with their boyfriends. In live-in relationships, where there are no family members, it becomes easier to kill partners.
There have been several such cases where women have been killed by their live-in partners, but these cases have gone unreported. In Delhi’s Rohini, a married woman Poonam living in a live-in relationship was murdered by her partner Sanjay. In Tilak Nagar, Delhi, one Manpreet murdered his seven-year-old live-in partner Rekha. In Ghaziabad, one Raman killed his live-in partner Divya and threw the body in a forest. There are several other similar cases.
Naturally, parents are worried about their daughters who live away from them in order to pursue education or do jobs. Most of them fear whether their daughters are in a live-in relationship with men or not. It is natural for such parents to be worried.
When sons and daughters decide to opt for live-in relationship, their parents must know. If they have quarrels, they should inform their parents. Times have changed and it would be better for all to remain cautious about such relationships.
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