Police arrest Rohit Shekhar Tiwari's wife for his murder, cites marital discord as motive
New Delhi: The Delhi Police Wednesday arrested Rohit Shekhar Tiwari's lawyer wife Apoorva on charges of his murder, citing a "turbulent and unhappy" marriage as the motive, a senior police official said.
Another reason behind the killing was the fact that Rohit was planning to give his share of property to his sister-in-law's son, he said. Apporva believed that Rohit's sister-in-law was the reason behind their turbulent marriage and held a grudge against her.
She tried to mislead investigators by claiming that she was getting intimate with Rohit and she might have accidentally pressed his neck, the official said, adding that police are, however, not believing this theory.
The investigators said Apoorva used to change her story everyday and whenever she was confronted with facts, she would weave her story around those facts.
Rohit, the son of late veteran politician N D Tiwari, was smothered to death on the intervening night of April 15 and 16, an autopsy report said.
The two got married in May last year, after having courted each other for a year before. They had met through a marriage portal, police said.
Immediately after their marriage, the couple seemed to have had a fallout and Apoorva had left for her parental home in Indore, police said.
During interrogation, Apoorva claimed that she was the president of Indian National Trade Union Congress in Indore and had political aspirations but after getting married to Rohit in May, she realised that he did not have much of a standing and his political career was not going anywhere.
Within 14-15 days of the marriage, she started staying away from the house, the official said.
"Sometimes, she would stay at her parents' place and sometimes at a rented room she had in south Delhi even before she got married," he said.
"In July last year, while he was undergoing a bypass surgery, she had served him a legal notice saying she did not want to live with him. But both the families counselled them and advised them to give the marriage a second chance," said the official, who was privy to the probe.
He said the problems were compounded due to a will that had been made before she got married to Rohit. According to the will, the property was to be divided in a ratio of 60:40 between Rohit and his step-brother Siddharth.
Siddharth, who did not keep well, felt he would not live longer and had said he would give his share of property to the nine-year-old son of a relative of Ujjwala's first husband. Ujjwala is Rohit's mother.
This relative and his wife addressed Ujjwala as 'Maa', who was also the son of Ujjwala's first husband's cousin.
Even Rohit had said he would give his share of property to the nine-year-old son of the relative, which angered Apoorva, the official said.
Police said they were suspecting her role since day one of the investigation, after Rohit's postmortem report stated that he was "smothered".
During interrogation, she was confronted with facts and kept changing statements often.
"The suspicion on her arose because only three persons had access to Rohit's room on the first floor of the house, two servants and Apoorva. We confronted her with circumstantial evidence and she broke down on Wednesday and confessed," the official said.
"On the night of the incident, the couple had a fight over a relative. Rohit had been drinking all the way from Uttarakhand to Delhi and was not in a condition to resist. During the fight, she pounced on him and smothered him," Additional Commissioner of Police (crime) Rajeev Ranjan said.
Rohit, along with his mother and other relatives, went to Kathgodam in Uttarakhand to cast his vote on April 10 and returned by late evening on April 15, Ranjan said.
He was drinking with his sister-in-law in his car, the official said. After returning to Delhi, they had dinner with Ujjwala, Rohit's mother, and other family members at around 11 pm.
Later, his mother and other relatives returned to their Tilak Lane bungalow and his servants went to their rooms. Siddharth also retired to his room, the official said.
Around 12.45 am, Apoorva went to Rohit's room after watching TV. While they were in the room, the couple had an argument, he said.
Ranjan said in a fit of rage, Apoorva allegedly smothered and strangulated Rohit. Next day, at around 2.30 pm, Rohit's mother came to his house and enquired about him, another official said.
Apoorva told her that he was sleeping, so his mother did not disturb him as she knew that he had insomnia and he used to sleep late in the evening, Ranjan said.
Later at around 4 pm, one of his servants noticed that he was not responding and was bleeding through his nose, police said.
Rohit's mother was at Max Hospital in Saket for the treatment when she received a call from home that he was unwell. She then took an ambulance that brought Rohit to the hospital.
He was declared brought dead by doctors and his body was sent for postmortem to AIIMS.
The autopsy was done by a board of five doctors on April 17 and the report revealed that Rohit died due to asphyxiation as he was smothered and strangulated.
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Vartha Bharati-Sankalp exit poll sees close fight in Davanagere South; Congress lead narrows sharply
Bengaluru: A post-poll survey conducted by Vartha Bharati and Bengaluru-based political research organisation Sankalp has projected a tight contest in the Davanagere South Assembly by-election, with Congress still ahead of BJP but with a sharply reduced margin compared to the 2023 Assembly election.
According to the survey, Congress may retain the seat, but it is likely to lose around 25 per cent of the votes it had secured in the 2023 election. As a result, its lead is expected to shrink considerably. In contrast, BJP is projected to have retained 95 per cent of the votes it secured in 2023.
The survey also noted widespread anger among Muslim voters against Congress, making the by-election far from easy for the ruling party.
Vote share projection
The survey estimates that of the total votes polled in 2023, Congress had secured 58 per cent. In the present by-election, its vote share may decline to 48.7 per cent.
BJP, which had received 39 per cent votes in 2023, may rise to 43.5 per cent this time.
SDPI, which had polled only 0.9 per cent in 2023, is projected to rise sharply to 5.7 per cent.
Independents and NOTA together may account for 2.1 per cent votes.
The survey stated that dissatisfaction among Muslims over ticket distribution and the manner in which Congress handled the community may hurt Congress and benefit SDPI.
Where Congress votes are shifting
Of the votes Congress may lose, a major share is projected to move to BJP.
The survey says:
- 17 per cent of Congress’s lost votes may shift to BJP
- 7 per cent may move to SDPI
- Around 1 per cent may go to others
This means that out of every 100 voters who supported Congress in 2023, nearly 25 may have shifted elsewhere in the by-election.
BJP vote retention strong
The survey estimates BJP has retained 95 per cent of its 2023 voters.
Only 5 per cent of BJP’s earlier votes may have moved to Congress.
Of that 5 per cent shift:
- 25 per cent are Dalits
- 33 per cent Lingayats
- 25 per cent Kurubas
- 17 per cent others
The survey says no BJP votes appear to have shifted to SDPI.
Social group movement from Congress to BJP
Among the 17 per cent votes shifting from Congress to BJP:
- 50 per cent Dalits
- 27 per cent others
- 11 per cent Lingayats
- 12 per cent Kurubas
The 7 per cent shift from Congress to SDPI is attributed clearly to Muslim voter dissatisfaction.
Gender-wise voting pattern
Among male voters:
- Congress: 47.0 per cent
- BJP: 44.2 per cent
- SDPI: 6.4 per cent
- Others: 2.4 per cent
Among female voters:
- Congress: 53.0 per cent
- BJP: 41.6 per cent
- SDPI: 3.9 per cent
Age-wise voting trend
18 to 25 years
A close fight is seen among younger voters.
- Congress: 45.9 per cent
- BJP: 45.5 per cent
- SDPI: 6.6 per cent
The survey says this suggests young Muslim voters may have moved from Congress to SDPI.
26 to 40 years
This is the largest voter group.
- Congress: 47.4 per cent
- BJP: 43.5 per cent
- SDPI: 6.4 per cent
41 to 60 years
Congress is believed to have benefited from sympathy votes linked to Shamanur.
- Congress: 52.1 per cent
- BJP: 41.7 per cent
- SDPI: 4.7 per cent
Above 60 years
BJP appears stronger among senior voters.
- BJP: 51.0 per cent
- Congress: 44.4 per cent
- SDPI: 3.7 per cent
Factors helping Congress
The survey listed the following advantages for Congress:
- Sympathy factor after Shamanur’s death
- Voter preference towards ruling party
- Influence of Mallikarjun-Prabha couple
- Congress victory in Lok Sabha election
Factors helping BJP
The survey listed the following advantages for BJP:
- Anti-incumbency against Congress government
- Anger among Muslims hurting Congress
- BJP fielding a Dalit candidate
The survey observed that while SDPI gained directly from Muslim anger, BJP gained indirectly because Congress lost votes.
Candidate-wise estimate
The survey projects:
- Congress candidate Samarth Mallikarjun: 43% to 51%
- BJP candidate Srinivas T. Dasakariyappa: 42% to 50%
- SDPI candidate Afsar Kodlipete: around 6%
- Others: around 1%
Margin expected to shrink sharply
Congress had won the 2023 election by a huge margin of 27,888 votes.
This time, the survey projects Congress may be ahead by only 1,500 to 2600 votes.
It added that since the margin appears extremely narrow, the possibility of a surprise result cannot be ruled out.
