New Delhi: The Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Thursday has filed a charge sheet against Apoorva Shukla, who was arrested for killing her husband Rohit Shekhar Tiwari, the son of late veteran politician N D Tiwari.
According to sources, 56 witnesses including investigating officers' (IOs) statements have been recorded.
The charge sheet is of 518 pages and also contains photographs, sources added.
According to the charge sheet, Shukla, a 35-year-old lawyer, has been charged under Section 302, which pertains to murder and is punishable with death or life imprisonment.
The charge sheet mentioned that Shukla had political ambitions, but after she got married to Rohit Shekhar she realised that he did not have any political standing and found her dreams would not be fulfilled.
Shukla also suspected that her husband had a son with his sister-in-law and was afraid that the property might go to him. She strangulated her husband as was unhappy with the marriage.
"She was unhappy with the marriage. Apoorva smothered him while Rohit was drunk. She committed the crime herself without any help," the officials had said after she was arrested.
Rohit Shekhar was killed on the intervening night of April 15 and 16 this year. Among the triggers that led to the killing were a "turbulent and unhappy" married life and Rohit Shekhar's plan to give his share of the property to his sister-in-law's son.
His mother Ujjwala Tiwari and sister-in-law thought he should end his marriage and a decision was supposed to be taken on the couple's divorce in June.
Apoorva Shukla met Rohit Shekhar through a matrimonial website in 2017 and got married in May last year, police said, adding that she was aware he was the son of former Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand chief minister N D Tiwari.
Within 14-15 days of the marriage, she started staying away from the house. In July last year, when he was admitted to a hospital, she had served him a legal notice, but they had later reconciled.
On April 15, Rohit Shekhar, his sister-in-law, N D Tiwari's close aide, and two of their other employees were returning from Haldwani, Uttarakhand after casting their votes, and Shukla had made a video call to Rohit Shekhar to ask him what he wanted to have for dinner.
During the course of the video call, she might have seen the woman relative in the car having liquor with Rohit Shekhar, but she did not say anything.
After Rohit Shekhar returned home around 10 pm, he had dinner alone and went to his room, and in between came out to meet his mother.
Around 12.45 am, Shukla went to Rohit Shekhar's room after watching TV. While they were in the room, she had an argument with him for drinking alcohol from the same glass as his sister-in-law, following which she allegedly killed him, the charge sheet said.
The forensic experts had said there was no outside entry to the room where Rohit Shekhar was found dead. The CCTV footage from his house, which showed that Apoorva Shukla was one of the last persons to access Rohit Shekhar's room, also has been cited as evidence, police said.
The forensic reports are awaited.
Rohit Shekhar's mother was at the Max Hospital in Saket for treatment when she received a call from home that he was unwell. She then took an ambulance that brought him to the hospital.
He was declared brought dead by doctors and his body was sent for postmortem to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, police said.
Reportedly, the autopsy was done by a board of five doctors on April 17 and the report revealed that Rohit Shekhar died due to asphyxiation as he was smothered and strangulated.
Following the autopsy report, a murder case was registered and transferred to the Crime Branch, which arrested Shukla on April 24.
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