Shraddha Murder Redux: In 24 hours, Delhi man kills girlfriend, puts body in fridge, marries another woman

Delhi has once again witnessed a Shraddha Walkar-like case where a man killed his girlfriend, stuffed her body in a refrigerator and then went on to marry another woman the same day.

In a shocking disclosure by the Delhi Police, 24-year-old Sahil Gehlot, who hailed from Delhi's Najafgarh's Mitraon village, allegedly killed his girlfriend Nikki Yadav (22) because his family had found another match for him and he wanted to leave his girlfriend.

How did the Shraddha Murder Case become a Copycat Murder template?

What happened? 

According to the police, the accused strangulated his live-in partner Nikki Yadav using a data cable in his car near Kashmiri Gate ISBT on the intervening night of February 9 and10.

• After killing her, he stuffed her body in the fridge of his dhaba, located on the outskirts of Mitraon village.
• The two had a heated argument inside the car, with the girl allegedly confronting Sahil over his plans of marrying another woman.
• The cops said that the accused, Sahil Gehlot, panicked after killing Nikki Yadav and roamed around the area for hours as he did not know what to do.

At around 4-5 am, he reached his dhaba which is owned by his family. Sahil put the the body inside the refrigerator and went home and started preparing for the wedding function the next day.

How the police got to know about the case

Since Nikki's family was in Haryana's Jhajjar, they did not know about her death. It was a man from Sahil and Nikki's locality who had informed the police after he saw that the girl was missing for a week, Indian Express reported.

"We received information from a man who said he had not seen the woman for some time. He suspected something had happened to her as the accused had left home and married someone else," said an officer.

• A team under DCP Satish Kumar was formed and the officials were sent to Gehlot's family home in Mitraon, but nobody was there. 
• His phone was switched off, and the family wasn't reachable. The police conducted raids at several places and he was eventually arrested from Kair village.
• Ravindra Singh Yadav, Special Commissioner of Police (Crime), said that Sahil confessed to his crime, and told them that he killed Yadav on February 9-10. "His family was pressuring him to get married and they had fixed his engagement and wedding. He did not inform Yadav, and he continued living with her. However, she found about the wedding from someone else and confronted him," said Ravindra Singh Yadav.

Nikki's father's version

Nikki's father told India Today that he had called Sahil on February 11, a day after the murder.

• Sahil had told him that Nikki had gone to Mussourie and Dehradun with her friends. He kept on misleading Nikki's father and told him that even he was supposed to ho go with her but couldn't go because of his marriage.
• He told Nikki's father that she had left her phone with him before going out with her friends. As her parents were not able to trace Nikki and her phone was also switched off, her father got Sahil's number from his younger daughter. He then called Sahil and also spoke with his father.

Nikki fought with Sahil over his marriage

Nikki, after getting to know that Sahil was going to marry another girl of his family's choice, began fighting with him.

• The two had also planned a Goa trip, but it was cancelled after Nikki got to know about Sahil's wedding plans.
• She demanded he meet her. Sahil went to meet her, where Nikki's sister was also present with her. 
• Sahil and Nikki then left the house at 11 pm and reached Kashmiri Gate, where they fought for almost an hour inside the car. "After a heated argument, the accused allegedly strangulated her with a mobile phone data cable," police said.

Police recover the body

After interrogating Sahil, the police reached his dhaba, which Sahil informed was closed because of his wedding. He led the cops to the refrigerator where Nikki's body was stored. The cops then sent the body for post-mortem.

How Sahil and Nikki met

Sahil and Nikki had met in 2018 in Delhi while they were preparing for competitive exams. Nikki was preparing for her medical entrance exams, while Sahil was preparing for SSC exam. The two took the same bus.

• Sahil and Nikki later took admission in the same college. They also started living together in Greater Noida after 2018. 
• During Covid, the two returned to their homes but later, they began living together again, in Delhi's Uttar Nagar area.