Jalna: Death of woman in car fire turns out to be murder

Police have detained the woman's husband on suspicion of killing her and fabricating a tale, an official said, days after she was discovered burned to death inside a car in Maharashtra's Jalna district.

The man killed his wife by setting her ablaze inside their car in the early hours of June 24 while returning from Shegaon, a temple town in neighbouring Buldhana district, he said. The accused hailed from Karla village in Mantha tehsil of Jalna.

As per the version told by the accused to the police earlier, he was returning home from the Gajanan Maharaj temple in Shegaon along with his wife in their car. However, their vehicle was hit from behind by a pickup van near Karla village on Lonar Road, the official said.

He stopped the car and entered into an argument with the van driver. However, his car suddenly caught fire and as the doors of his vehicle could not be opened, his wife got stuck inside. He told the police that he could not save his wife despite frantic attempts and she was charred to death, he added.

Police inspector Marooti Khedkar, however, said, We found discrepancies in his statement. Contrary to his account, the car showed no sign of getting hit by another vehicle. We suspected his role and the probe confirmed that he murdered his wife.

The accused used to harass his wife and threaten to divorce her as he wanted a male child. He used to argue with her over the issue. Finally, he hatched a conspiracy to eliminate her and their visit to Shegaon was part of the plan, he added.

Taking advantage of the fact that the road they were travelling from Shegaon to Karla does not witness much traffic, especially at night, he poured kerosene on the car and set it ablaze with wife inside, Khedkar said.