A 40-year-old police head constable was arrested on Sunday for allegedly killing his wife by repeatedly hitting her on the head with an iron rod at their rented accommodation in Mahanagar’s Paper Mill area, police said.
The victim, Rashmi Srivastava, 38, died on the spot from severe head injuries. Her husband, Himanshu Srivastava, a 2011-batch head constable posted in the office of the Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), worked in the Right to Information Cell, police statement added.
DCP (Central) Vikrant Vir said an FIR was registered on a complaint by Rashmi’s brother Saurabh Srivastava. “The accused has been taken into custody and is being questioned. Further legal action is underway,” he said.
The incident came to light around 2:30 pm after the landlord alerted the police control room. A police team reached the house and found Rashmi lying in a pool of blood near the kitchen.
Mahanagar SHO Akhilesh Mishra said preliminary investigation suggested Himanshu had allegedly attacked his wife multiple times with an iron rod. “It is not clear why he attacked his wife. The investigation is underway,” he said.
Rashmi’s brother Saurabh alleged that Himanshu had tried to harm her earlier, including an attempt to strangle her with a towel. He said he spoke to Rashmi on Friday night when she complained that her blood pressure was not normal and offered to visit her, but she declined.
There was no communication on Saturday. On Sunday, their younger brother Adarsh called Saurabh after failing to get a response from Rashmi’s phone. Saurabh then went to her house and found her body.
Saurabh said relations between the couple had appeared to improve recently, but alleged that the latest attack was planned. He recalled meeting Rashmi on Raksha Bandhan and described her death as unexpected and shocking.
Police said Himanshu is from Ayodhya, while Rashmi hailed from Ambedkar Nagar. Investigators are probing the circumstances leading to the killing and whether a domestic dispute preceded the attack.
