A 32-year-old woman was found bludgeoned to death in a Sector 10 park in Chandigarh, and police arrested her husband within hours after tracing evidence from the scene and examining nearby CCTV footage.
The woman, identified as Shikha, was found by a scrap picker at around 9:50am on Friday. The park is located about 100 metres from Chandigarh police headquarters and close to the offices of the Punjab governor and the UT administrator. Police teams, including SP City Vijay Kumar, the SHO of Sector 3 police station and a Central Forensic Science Laboratory team, reached the site after the body was reported.
According to police, Shikha’s head and face had suffered multiple injuries inflicted with a stone. Investigators recovered the alleged weapon after finding it concealed under a larger rock some distance from the body. The condition of the scene and the position of the body indicated that she had struggled before her death, police said.
Police identified the woman using a tattoo on her hand bearing the words “Shikha UP” and a scooter key found in the pocket of her trousers. Her mobile phone was missing from the scene. Investigators collected dump data from the area and examined footage from cameras installed around the park.
The accused, Robin, lives in Janta Colony in Nayagaon, Mohali. Police said he entered the park through a broken section of fencing rather than the main entrance. He allegedly fled after the killing and switched off his mobile phone, prompting teams to search possible hideouts before his arrest.
Police have linked the killing to an ongoing matrimonial dispute. According to the report, Robin was angry because Shikha had refused to live with him and allegedly suspected her of having an extramarital relationship. The couple married in 2020 and have a five-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son. Shikha had moved to her mother’s home in Sector 15 about five months ago, while the children remained with Robin in Nayagaon.
The reported killing followed an earlier criminal case involving the couple. Police had arrested Robin after he allegedly attacked Shikha’s mother with a coconut-cutting chopper on September 10. Shikha had earlier alleged that he harassed and assaulted her after their marriage. In that incident, police said Robin went to the Sector 15 house after Shikha refused to return with him, attacked her mother and fled after threatening to kill her. He was sent to Burail jail and had recently been released on bail before the Sector 10 park killing.
The investigation is continuing with forensic examination, CCTV analysis and scrutiny of the electronic data collected from the crime scene.
