Rohit Yadav, 29, who was arrested for allegedly killing Aarti Yadav, 22, in broad daylight in Waliv area of Vasai on Tuesday, told police that he was upset after he saw her with another man. The two were in a relationship earlier, according to police.
Yadav also told police that he had tried to commit suicide twice in the past. “After they fell apart, Yadav used to stalk Aarti and he said last month he spotted her with another man on his bike. When he confronted her, Aarti told him to buy a bike first and then talk to her. Yadav got angry and snatched her phone. He then called the man with whom he suspected that Aarti was having an affair with and warned him. Aarti had yelled at him over this,” a senior police officer told The Indian Express.
After the incident, Yadav said he tried to end his life twice, the officer said. “He tried to jump in front of a local train in Nalasopara, but other passengers stopped him. Later tried to jump in front of a speeding bus, which stopped because of a stray dog,” the officer added.
Police said they have provided special security for Yadav in view of his suicidal tendancy. His dtailed statement was recorded at the Waliv police station.
According to police, Yadav, who hails from Haryana, lost his sister at the age of two due to electric shock. After a few years, he lost his parents, too, and he left studies in Class 8. His mother’s brother who raised him also met with an untimely death, after which Yadav left for Gujarat from where he came to Nalasopara in Palghar district in 2018 to earn a living.
At Nalasopara, Yadav was living in Aarti’s neighborhood. As per Yadav’s claims to police, she proposed to him when she was 16 but he refused it saying she was a minor. Aarti then threatened to slit her wrist, following which Yadav did not go against her wish, a police officer said.
Yadav told police that he also supported Aarti’s family financially but after Covid, he could not give any money. Aarti’s family asked Yadav to buy a house if he wanted to marry her. Yadav said that he got Aarti a job after she cleared higher secondary.
According to Yadav, Aarti started ignoring him due to a new relationship at her work place and he felt deceived, which led to the murder.
“Whatever reason Yadav claims, his heinous act cannot be justified in any manner and hence we would prepare a strong case against him,” said a senior police officer from the Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar commissionerate.
On Wednesday, Yadav was produced before the local court in Vasai where police sought his remand. However, the judge who was holding additional charge of the court, sent Yadav to magistrate’s custody. Police then approached the sessions court, which considered the strong grounds presented by police, and granted six days’ police custody.