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"Sahil Gehlot's family had a problem with the fact that Nikki Yadav came from a different 'community'…They couldn't accept her as their daughter-in-law," a senior Delhi Police officer alleged to The Quint on the condition of anonymity.
Earlier on Saturday, 18 February, the Delhi Police alleged that Nikki and Sahil got married in 2020 at a temple. The police also claimed that Sahil's father, his two brothers, and two friends were involved in the Nikki Yadav murder case. The five men have now been arrested.
On the intervening night of 9 and 10 February, Nikki was killed, allegedly by Sahil, who then hid her body inside a fridge. Hours later, he got married to another woman. The matter only came to the fore on 13 February, and Sahil was arrested.
On Saturday, 18 February, Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav said that Sahil and Nikki got married to each other in 2020. "Nikki was actually his wife and not a live-in partner," he added.
"After sustained interrogation, Sahil disclosed that the deceased was asking him not to marry another woman because both Sahil and Nikki had already solemnised their marriage in the year 2020 at an Arya Samaj Mandir in Greater Noida," Special CP Yadav said.
What the Cops Know So Far
Speaking to The Quint on the condition of anonymity, another senior police officer claimed, "When asked why he didn't want to live with Nikki despite being married, Sahil said that his family didn't agree to it."
The police officer claimed that they had "strong documentary evidence to prove that Sahil's family knew about their marriage and vehemently opposed it, too."
Sahil's father was reportedly aware of his marriage to Nikki but went ahead and fixed his marriage to another woman regardless, The Times of India reported, quoting sources.
"Even after the murder, Sahil informed his father about the crime but he was still asked to marry the other woman forcefully the same day," sources told TOI.
One of the Delhi Police sources, however, told The Quint that "Nikki's family claims that they did not know that she was married to Sahil."
The source further told The Quint that during interrogation, Sahil mentioned that "Nikki was a caring person," and recounted how "when he once fell sick, she didn’t leave his side." The police officer said, "On being asked why he then killed her, Sahil had no answer."
How It Played Out
According to the police, Nikki begged Sahil "not to go ahead with the marriage fixed by his family with another girl" on 10 February.
Police said that Sahil's family "hatched the conspiracy and planned to remove the deceased out of their way."
"Accordingly, Sahil executed the plan and murdered her and informed the other co-accused persons about it on the same day i.e. 10 February."
Then all of them went ahead with the marriage ceremony, according to Special CP Yadav.
"Sahil initially said that he did it all by himself. But when we collected evidence and checked his routes, we figured that someone else might have also been involved. So far, we have found out that five more people are involved," he added.
The co-accused: Sahil's father, his cousins Ashish and Naveen, and his two friends Amar and Lokesh have been arrested by the police.
Sahil's cousin Naveen is reportedly a Delhi Police constable.
The charges: The co-accused have been arrested under the following sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC):
Section 120B – Punishment of criminal conspiracy
Section 201 – Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender
Section 202 – Intentional omission to give information of offence by a person bound to inform
Section 212 – Harbouring offender
The Nikki Yadav Murder Case So Far
Sahil, 24, allegedly murdered Nikki near Kashmere Gate ISBT in Delhi on the intervening night of 9 and 10 February.
The accused allegedly used the data cable in his car to strangle her.
The police's preliminary investigation revealed that the couple had been in a relationship for the last few years.
While Gehlot is from Delhi's Mitraon village, Nikki was from Jhajjar, Haryana.
According to the police, he allegedly stored her body in a fridge at a dhaba owned by his family on the outskirts of Mitraon village in Najafgarh.
Then, he got married to another woman on the same day.
(With inputs from TOI)
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