Uttar Pradesh: Husband Beats Wife To Death, Runs Car Over Body To Claim ₹44 Lakh Life Insurance

On the night of July 29, local farmers on the outskirts of Hamirpur spotted a woman's body lying on the roadside. It looked, at first glance, like a hit-and-run accident. Police reached the spot, collected evidence and sent the body for post-mortem examination. Her identity was not immediately known. It was only after a bank slip was recovered from the scene that police were able to trace her to her family.

The woman was identified as 32-year-old Reeta, a resident of the area who had been married to Amar for around two-and-a-half years. What began as a suspected road accident would, within 48 hours, be established as a planned murder, allegedly carried out by her own husband for insurance money.

Reeta's husband, Amar Singh, had reported her missing at a local police station even before her body was identified. When word came that an unidentified woman had been found dead nearby, Amar arrived to identify her. Investigators say this was an attempt to appear unaware of what had actually happened and to keep himself removed from suspicion. That account did not hold up. Technical surveillance and inconsistencies in Amar's statements led investigators to a different conclusion: this was not an accident, it was murder, planned in advance.

According to police, Reeta had lost her first husband some years earlier, and had gone on to meet Amar while working in Kanpur, before the two eventually married. Investigators found that the couple had, over time, fallen into serious and mounting financial distress, reportedly owing money to a man named Pushpendra Soni, also known as Sahil. That debt, police allege, became the motive. An insurance policy worth Rs 44 lakh had been taken out in Reeta's name, with a plan already in place to kill her and present it as a road accident.

During interrogation, police say Amar was to receive Rs 15 lakh from the insurance payout, with the remaining amount to be divided among his accomplices. The murder, investigators said, was carried out on an arterial road near Paudhiya, where Amar's associates allegedly waited in a car. Reeta was first hit by the moving vehicle and fell into a ditch. The car was then reversed and driven over her a second time.

Police pieced together surveillance footage and other evidence to identify those involved. Along with Amar, three others were arrested: Amit Gupta, Pushpendra Soni and Abhay Singh. The vehicle allegedly used in the killing, along with an Airtel SIM card linked to the case, was seized during the investigation. All four accused have since been produced before a court, and the case is now proceeding through the legal process, with police stating that further questioning may bring out additional details of how the murder was planned and executed over the preceding weeks.

The case adds to a growing list of instances where insurance policies, intended to provide financial protection to families, have instead been used as a motive for murder. Cases of this kind have surfaced from different parts of the country in recent years, often unravelled only after investigators notice inconsistencies in accounts given by those closest to the victim.

Inputs from TOI