Mira Road horror: Man slits wife’s throat in middle of road

The accused, Nadeem Khan, an interior designer by profession, was caught by the passers-by and handed over to the police

A 39-year-old man was arrested on Friday for allegedly murdering his estranged wife in Mira Road. The alleged incident took place over the custody of their children. The accused, an interior designer by profession, slit his wife's throat and also stabbed her on the chest multiple times using a sharp-edged weapon, leading to her death on the spot, according to the police. The police have identified the accused as Nadeem Ahmed Khan and the deceased as Amreen Khan.

According to the police, Amreeen, 36, had come from Bandra to take custody of her children following an order issued by the Thane Sessions Court. Desperate to gain children's custody, she faced resistance from her husband, who was unhappy due to her having abandoned him for the past two years, the police said.

The incident took place in the Naya Nagar area. Pics/Hanif Patel

Naya Nagar police station senior inspector Vilas Supe said, "The Khan couple married around 13 years ago. They have two children aged 12-years-old and an 18-month-old. There was some dispute between the couple, and the wife had been living with her parents in Bandra since." "Both the children had been staying with their father in Mira Road, and the estranged wife had filed a complaint in the Thane Sessions Court to seek their custody," Supe told mid-day.

"Following the court's order, we had accompanied the woman to Nadeem's house on Thursday to hand over the custody of the children to her. But the house was locked. We also enquired in the neighbourhood, but no one had any information about the whereabouts of Nadeem and the children," the officer added.

"We again visited Nadeem's house later and found him to be at home. When we asked where the children were, he told us that they had gone to Ajmer with their grandmother. So, we recorded Nadeem's statement on Thursday and asked the woman to wait until the children return," Supe further said. After returning empty-handed to Bandra, Amreen started to enquire about the location of her children, and she learnt that her 12-year-old girl child was at school in Mira Road.

Following this information, she reached Mira Road on Friday and was heading to the school when Nadeem, who was roaming in the area, saw her, the police said. "The husband, who was carrying a sharp-edged weapon with him, inched closer to her in anger, had a heated argument according to the locals, took out the murder weapon, and stabbed her to death," said another police officer.

Sources in Mira Road told mid-day that people offering Friday prayer rushed to rescue the woman, but ‘it was too late'. Following the incident, which took place in the middle of the road in broad daylight, thepassers-by caught Nadeem and handed him over to the police. Supe added, "The husband attempted to flee the crime scene, but locals apprehended him and handed him over to the police. We have registered a murder case against Nadeem, and the body has been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation is underway."