27 May,2011 06:59 AM IST | | Shiva Devnath
After smothering her to death, husband ties a noose to the ceiling fan to try and pass the murder off as a case of suicide
The Dahisar police are on the lookout for a 37-year-old man who allegedly killed his wife over a domestic dispute yesterday night. According to the police, Ausuli Edward Rodriques, a daily wage labourer, allegedly smothered his wife Dipti (22) with a pillow for attending her sister's wedding and not obeying his diktat to sever all ties with her family. The "disobedience" did not go down well with the ill-tempered husband and he decided to teach Dipti a lesson and eventually ended up killing her, initial investigations suggest.
In happier times: Ausuli Edward Rodriques and his wife Dipti
The couple had secretly tied the nuptial knot two years ago. When Dipti's parents came to know about her wedding eight months ago, they disowned her, banishing the couple from all family affairs. Despite the diktat, Dipti went to Gujarat with her parents for her elder sister's wedding, unaware that she would have to pay with her life for it. "Once she returned from the wedding, Ausuli, who did not like Dipti maintaining relations with her natal family, confronted her on the issue," said PI Anil Pawar of the Dahisar police station.
He added that the incident took place before 10.30 am on Wednesday after the couple started fighting over the issue. Soon the argument blew out of proportion, and Ausuli in a fit of rage smothered Dipti with a pillow.
After her death, the accused tied one end of a rope to the ceiling fan and made a noose at the other end, apparently trying to pass off the murder as a suicide.
However, he could not succeed in his plan as Dipti's body had become so heavy that he could not even lift it. Nervous, he left the body on the floor and fled the scene. The residents of Santosh Nagar, where the couple lived, spotted Dipti's body and informed the police. The investigating officer in the case said that the police had registered a case of murder and launched a manhunt for Ausuli based on the statements recorded by Dipti's father Bharat Shah and elder sister Priti Purohit.
Shah, a priest at the temple in Dahisar (East), said that Dipti had married Ausuli two years ago, but was living with them until eightu00a0 months ago. "We learnt about the wedding only eight months ago and had not approved of the relationship as Ausuli did not have a stable job. Since then Dipti had been staying with her husband in a rented house. However, she had accompanied us to Una village in Gujarat but she had told us that she had informed Ausuli about her trip," Shah added.
When contacted, Edward, Ausuli's father said that he had last met Ausuli at a church on Sunday. "Ausuli had said that he wanted to rush home to meet Dipti as she had returned from Gujarat that very day. The girl was sweet and we approved of her. The couple had never fought and I am in shock after hearing this," said Edward.
