Army personnel arrested for strangulating, immolating wife, daughter in Jodhpur

The accused had initially said that his wife and daughter died in a fire that broke out in the house following short-circuit. During interrogation, he told that he strangulated them and then set their bodies on fire.

Jodhpur: An Army personnel was arrested on charges of immolating his wife and daughter after strangulating them to death.

The incident took place at in military residential complex Hamidbagh in Jodhpur on Sunday. The bodies were handed over to the relatives for last rites after post-mortem today.

The deceased have been identified as Rukmeena and her two-year-old daughter Riddhama. The accused, Ram Prasad, a Naik in the Indian Army was produced before the court and taken on police remand. RPS Minakshi Lega, senior official of Ratanada police station said that the accused has been arrested and now will be interrogated for further information.

Doctors who conducted the post-mortem at MGH informed police that strangulation was the cause behind both the deaths. The detailed post-mortem report is yet to be released.

Initially, the accused made contradictory statements during interrogation. However, he finally accepted his crime after undergoing a thorough grilling. The accused said that he used to fight with his wife over her rising demands to lead a luxurious life. He said that he did not have the financial means to fulfill her demands. Also, he had taken his wife to Sikkim, where his parents live but the woman reportedly got into arguments with her mother-in-law, the accused complained.

Ram Prasad had married Rukmeena from Nepal three years ago. Two years back the couple shifted to Jodhpur and have been living in the military residential complex.

The police recovered the charred bodies of the woman and her daughter in their house on Sunday. Initially, the accused said that fire broke out at 4 am due to short cicuit in the cooler of the room where his wife and daughter were sleeping. He told police that he tried to save them but failed and had gone out to seek for help.

But, Ram Prasad was under police scanner since the first day since there were no burn injuries on his body while the two others were completely burnt. It has now been revealed that the accused had strangulated the two and then set them on fire, police said.