Man killed by wife’s relatives, five held

Hyderabad, May 21: A day after a 20-year-old man was brutally murdered here, five close relatives of his wife were arrested for allegedly killing him, police said. A juvenile in conflict with law was also apprehended in connection with the murder, they said.
Neeraj P, a businessman, who had a love marriage with a woman belonging to another caste last year against her family’s wishes, was killed in Begum Bazar in public view on Friday night, allegedly by five persons.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Zone) D Joel Davis told reporters on Saturday that Neeraj fell in love with the woman and they wanted to get married and put the proposal before their elders.
However, the woman’s family members did not accept their proposal and refused to perform their marriage. Subsequently, they got married at a temple in April 2021 against the wishes of the woman’s family and started staying at Shamsheergunj, he said.
Recently, Neeraj frequently started coming to his shop. His wife’s family and cousins also stay very near to the store and this provoked her cousins and they hatched a plan to eliminate him, the senior police official said.
The five accused, who are close relatives of Neeraj’s wife, hatched a plan to kill him. On Friday night, the man along with his grandfather were going on a bike to their relatives’ house when the accused stopped him and attacked him with knives, due to which he sustained severe bleeding injuries and died while undergoing treatment at a state-run hospital, police said.
The accused then fled the spot.
The accused were drunk at the time of incident, police said adding seven teams were formed and within 24 hours of the murder, the five accused persons and the juvenile were apprehended near here. Efforts were in progress to nab the absconding accused, they said.
Earlier in the day, Neeraj’s wife alleged that her brother and other family members were behind the murder.
However, the woman’s kin denied the allegations claiming some others had got Neeraj killed. The couple have a two-month old baby.
“My family members had earlier threatened me and my husband of dire consequences in view of our love marriage. I want justice,” she said adding a year ago they had also approached the police regarding a threat to their lives. (PTI)