Agra: Man beheads wife after argument over his drinking, gambling habits

AGRA: A mother of four was allegedly beheaded by her husband in the vicinity of Taj Mahal, after she confronted him for his drinking and gambling habits. The accused later walked for five kilometres to Hariparvat and tried to hoist the victim’s head on a traffic island.
After killing his wife, the accused reportedly walked for about three hours with the victim's head in a canister.
The incident took place on Monday morning. The victim has been identified as Shanti Devi (29), a resident of Kachhpura under Itmad-ud-daula police jurisdiction. She was married to accused Naresh Baghel (33) for nearly 15 years.
The incident caused panic among the locals.
According to police, Naresh is TV repair mechanic. “He was caught from traffic island of Hariparvat by our on-duty traffic cop while he was attempting to take out his wife’s head from a canister to hoist it in public,” said Ajay Kaushal, station house officer of Hariparvat.
Udayveer Singh Malik, station house officer of Itmad-ud-daula police station said, "The first information of the victim’s death was reported to police at around 6.30am. It was the victim’s elder daughter Payal (14) who first saw Shanti’s headless body lying on the floor of bedroom.”
"The room was locked from outside and was later opened by the family members. During probe, it was found that the couple’s four children were sleeping in another room when Naresh beheaded Shanti. The machete used in the crime has been recovered and the accused has now been booked under Section 302 (murder) of IPC," said the SHO.
He added, “Prior to the murder, the couple had a fight on Sunday night after the victim confronted Naresh for his drinking and gambling habits.”
Police sources claimed that, “During interrogation, Naresh accused his wife of having an illicit affair which seems to be a false allegation. Four days ago, Naresh climbed atop a electricity transformer in his locality and asked the residents to help him in cleaning it, which suggest that he is not mentally stable.”
Sources claimed that Naresh’s father, Thakur Das, was taking care of the deceased woman and her four children financially, as the accused had lost almost all his property in gambling and liquor.