In a horrific incident, a man burnt his two wives to death in a car after an argument broke out while they were travelling together in Rajasthan's Jalore district, police said on Wednesday.
According to a Times of India report, he had intended to bump off his second wife as far back as two weeks ago, when he bought petrol. He claims she had been quarreling with his first wife and with him.
In order to divert the police, accused Deeparam concocted a sob story, but ultimately spilled the beans on the crime he committed on Tuesday in Chilatwana village. He has been arrested.
Police said Deeparam and his two wives Malu, 27, and Dariya, 22, were accompanying him to market along one of his sons when the two women got into an argument.
Deeparam then took the car to a deserted street, doused it in petrol and set it aflame while the two women were inside, burning them alive. He pulled his son out of the car to safety as the women burned.
Deeparam initially told police that while they were on their way to the market, the car developed a snag, following which he got down to check. He claimed that the car doors got autolocked as the car caught fire. Area villagers helped him in dousing the flames, he told the police.
Not convinced by this narrative, police quizzed passers-by and others.
A rural woman who was nearby told police that one of the women victims, before she was burnt alive, had come running to her while she was working in the fields. Even as they were talking, Deeparam pulled away his wife and made her sit in the car, the village woman allegedly told police.
Deeparam then drove away and later, villagers saw it ablaze a few kilometres ahead. Area villagers rushed to the spot and tried to douse the flames by throwing water on it but could not save the two women.
When Chitalwana police grilled him, Deeparam finally gave up and admitted to his crime.
Ram claimed that he was unhappy with the second wife due to quarrelling, but had tried to save his first one. He told mediapersons that he “regrets” it, reported The Times of India.
Deepram, a construction labourer, said he had married the second time as his first wife was mentally challenged, according to IANS.
However, the new wife was frequently quarrelling with the first one as well as with him, he claimed.
So he had decided to get rid of the second wife, disguising it as an accident. The plan had been in the works for at least two weeks, as he had bought petrol with which to commit the murders.
(With inputs from IANS, Times of India and India Today.)
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