A disturbing case from Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh has left an entire village stunned, after a woman allegedly poured petrol on her husband and set him on fire before trying to pass it off as an accident caused by a lit bidi. Police eventually punctured her account during questioning, and she confessed to the killing. She has been arrested and sent to jail after being produced in court.
The bidi story that was told first
The case unfolded in Aswar Tarapur village under the Malwa police station area, where a man named Awadhesh Kumar, also known as Pawan, died on June 27 after suffering burns in what first looked like a mysterious accident. The Superintendent of Police reached the spot with a heavy police contingent as soon as the news broke, and the body was taken into custody for a post mortem examination. In her initial statement, Awadhesh's wife, Preeti alias Vinita, told police that her husband had come home drunk in the afternoon, lain down on a cot and lit a bidi to smoke. She said she needed to withdraw some money from the bank, so she took her passbook and left for the bank. When she returned, she saw smoke rising from the house. She called out to the neighbours, and when everyone gathered and opened the door, they found the cot and the house engulfed in flames. Together they put out the fire and rushed the badly burned Awadhesh toward the hospital, but he died on the way.
Brother's complaint reopens the investigation
The death sparked panic and speculation across the village. Soon after, the deceased's brother, Rajkumar, approached the police station with a written complaint alleging that Preeti alias Vinita may have murdered her husband. Acting on this complaint, police reopened the investigation and brought Vinita in for detailed questioning. Under sustained pressure, her account fell apart, and she admitted that she herself had set her husband on fire. She told investigators that after starting the fire, she had stepped outside the house, then returned a short while later and screamed loudly to draw the neighbours in, so that no suspicion would fall on her.
A husband's alcohol addiction and daily beatings
Station house officer Rajesh Mishra said the woman told police her husband was addicted to alcohol and never did any work of his own. He would drink from morning and wander around the village all day, and frequently beat her. She also said he sold household utensils to fund his drinking and even snatched away the wages she earned working as a labourer in other people's fields, spending that money on alcohol too. Villagers said Awadhesh and Vinita had been married for about 12 years and had no children. According to residents, Awadhesh had a serious drinking habit, regularly beat his wife, and would sell either grain or utensils from the house to buy liquor.
A closed bank deepened the suspicion
Superintendent of Police Abhimanyu Manglik said June 27 fell on the last Saturday of the month, a day on which banks remain closed. So when the woman claimed she had gone to withdraw money from the bank that day, it immediately raised suspicion within the police team. That single inconsistency changed the course of the investigation, prompting officers to question her more intensely. Under interrogation, Vinita admitted that she had grown tired of her husband's constant torment and had planned to kill Awadhesh while he lay drunk on the cot. She poured petrol on the bedding, set it alight, and walked out of the house. Too intoxicated to get up and escape, Awadhesh was unable to flee the cot and suffered severe burns in the fire, which proved fatal on the way to hospital. Once the truth came out, police arrested Vinita and sent her to jail after producing her in court.
