Doctor Murders Wife, Cremates Her Body Then Files Missing Person Complaint

A 34-year-old woman doctor who reportedly disappeared on Nov. 26 from Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri in India was allegedly killed and cremated by her husband, who is also a doctor.

Police identified the accused as Abhishek Awasthi, 36, a doctor of ayurvedic medicine. He was detained on Monday for questioning and arrested the following day after he confessed to killing his wife Vandana Awasthi, 34, before cremating her body 400 kilometers away on the banks of the Ganga in Garh Mukteshwar, police said.

Abhishek then filed a missing complaint after killing his wife, The Times of India reported.

Circle officer of Lakhimpur Sadar, Sandeep Singh, said, "We received a complaint on November 27 from Abhishek that his wife had gone missing. He told police that she had left her home with some valuables. Once we learnt more about the couple's marital issues, we put Abhishek on our watch list. During investigation, we found that Abhishek and his father had cremated Vandana's body in Garh Mukteshwar. They had informed an ambulance driver that the woman died in an accident and took her body in the vehicle for quick cremation."

During questioning, Awasthi confessed that he struck his wife with a heavy object during a fight. She died due to head injuries on Nov. 26.

Awasthi and his father have reportedly been arrested and sent to jail.

In related news, a man was arrested in June for reportedly killing his wife in south Delhi's Maidan Garh. He filed a missing complaint a few days after the murder upon learning that his in-laws also filed a police complaint against him concerning the disappearance and murder of his wife.

"He told us that his wife had been missing from his house in Asola village since June 13. During the investigation, the husband was questioned, and he was not able to give proper answers. His role was found suspicious," police said.

Later on, the husband reportedly confessed to the killing. He said that his brother, who lives with him, was also involved in the crime. "On June 14, the accused and his brother, on the pretext of going to their native place in UP, took her to a forested area in Bhati Mines and strangled her and later dumped the body," an officer said.