The Delhi Police has filed a chargesheet against Apoorva Shukla, who was arrested for killing her husband Rohit Shekhar Tiwari, the son of late veteran politician ND Tiwari, in Delhi’s Saket Court on Thursday.
According to a senior police official, a detailed 518-page charge sheet has been filed at the Saket Court and there are around 56 witnesses, including Rohit’s mother Ujjwala Tiwari, in it.
Rohit 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’s plan to give his share of the property to his sister-in-law’s son.
The autopsy was done by a board of five doctors on April 17 and the report revealed that Rohit 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 Apoorva on April 24.
According to charge sheet, a 35-year-old lawyer, Apoorva has been charged under section 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the offence is punishable with death or life imprisonment.
“Apoorva suspected that her husband had a son with his sister-in-law and was afraid that the property might go to him. She had allegedly smothered and strangulated Rohit Shekhar, following an argument with him for drinking alcohol with his sister-in-law, whom she did not like,” charge sheet stated.
“Apoorva had political ambitions, but after she got married to Rohit she realised that he did not have any political standing and found her dreams would not be fulfilled,” the charge sheet mentioned.
Apoorva met Rohit through a matrimonial website in 2017 and got married in May last year. Police said 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,” the charge sheet stated.
“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, 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 Apoorva had made a video call to Rohit Shekhar to ask him what he wanted to have for dinner,” according to the charge sheet.
“During the course of the video call, she might have seen the woman relative in the car having liquor with Rohit, but she did not say anything. After Rohit returned home around 10 pm, he had dinner alone and went to his room, and in between came out to meet his mother,” the charge sheet stated.
“Around 12.45 am, Shukla went to Rohit’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 states.
However, the forensic reports are awaited but the forensic experts had said there was no outside entry to the room where Rohit was found dead. “The CCTV footage from his house, which showed that Apoorva was one of the last persons to access Rohit’s room, also has been cited as evidence,” said a police official tasked with the investigation.
