SHILLONG, June 15: The police arrested one Trophius Nongbri for allegedly murdering his 30-year-old pregnant wife, Stefani Lyngdoh Nonglait at their residence near the cemetery of the Phudmuri Presbyterian Church at Mali-1, Mawlai Mawdatbaki on Wednesday night.
The arrest followed an FIR lodged by the dead woman’s sister, Amanda Lyngdoh Nonglait at the Mawlai police station on Thursday. She alleged her brother-in-law might have murdered her elder sister who was two months pregnant.
Amanda said her sister’s body was found under mysterious circumstances but her brother-in-law claimed she had committed suicide. There were contusions on her sister’s neck, she added.
Stefani’s relatives said it was difficult to believe her husband since she was physically and mentally strong and was not someone who would take her own life.
They said Stefani would share messages with her sister saying her husband was having an alleged affair with his previous wife. She had also written about the alleged affair on the walls of her house, they claimed.
Stefani was lying dead on the bed when they reached her house, the relatives said. “There was nothing in the room that indicated she could have committed suicide. From the contusions on her neck, we suspect she was strangled,” one of the relatives said.
The members of the Mawlai Mawdatbaki Dorbar Shnong were informed about the incident at around 10 p.m. on Wednesday.
A member of the Dorbar Shnong said that they had informed the police after the relatives sniffed murder.
A senior police official said an investigation would confirm the cause of Stefani’s death. “A case under Section 320 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered,” he said.
The police took Nongbri to the residence on Thursday to recreate the scene. The K-9 team accompanied the police personnel.
The body was later handed over to the relatives after a post-mortem at the NEIGRIHMS.
