A 25-year-old man was arrested from Uttarakhand’s Haldwani city on Wednesday for allegedly murdering his partner and a six-month-old baby by slitting their throats in north Delhi’s Majnu Ka Tila area a day earlier, the police said.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthia, the accused, identified as Nikhil, was traced after intensive interrogation of his father and brother in Delhi.
“Through technical surveillance and human intelligence, we learnt that Nikhil had fled to Haldwani, where he planned to collect cash and escape to Nepal,” he said.
Based on leads from Nikhil’s friends and relatives, the police dispatched a team to Haldwani and another to the Banbasa border near Tanakpur, Uttarakhand. “We were also tracking his multiple mobile numbers and physically following one of his known associates,” the officer said.
During interrogation, the accused confessed to murdering his partner Sonal and the minor with a surgical blade in a fit of rage. “He claimed that he was frequently fighting with Sonal and suspected her of having an affair with Durgesh, whose house she had recently moved into,” the DCP said.
Police said that Nikhil and Sonal had conceived a child in 2023, which could not be aborted due to medical reasons. The unmarried couple gave birth to the child in Haldwani and allegedly sold the baby for ₹20,000 to someone in Uttarakhand.
After this, the couple returned to Delhi and began living together in a rented accommodation in Wazirpur. “Soon after, Nikhil began suspecting that Sonal was in a relationship with his friend Durgesh,” the officer said.
Sonal later became pregnant again, and Nikhil reportedly urged her to marry him and have the child. However, she refused and moved out. She then began staying with Durgesh, his wife, and their two children, a development that further enraged Nikhil, the police said.
On Tuesday, Nikhil went to Durgesh’s house in his absence in an attempt to convince Sonal to return. “When she refused and the argument escalated, Nikhil hit her and then slit her throat with a surgical blade,” said DCP Banthia.
“He told us that he had no intention of harming the baby but ended up killing the child to avenge what he believed was the abortion of his unborn child under Durgesh’s influence,” the officer told The Hindu.
Police also revealed that Nikhil attempted to commit suicide in his rented apartment after committing the murders, but abandoned the plan and fled to Haldwani. The accused is currently being brought back to Delhi for further interrogation.
Published – July 10, 2025 01:28 am IST
