UP Doctor Arrested For Killing Wife, Cremating Body Nearly 400 Km Away

A doctor in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife, Vandana Awasthi (28), also a doctor. The killing took place on November 26, but the man quietly cremated her body in Garhmukteshwar, nearly 400 kilometres away. Police said that accused Abhishek Awasthi, a doctor of Ayurvedic medicine, along with his father Gauri Shankar Awasthi, struck Vandana with a heavy object during a fight and she died due to head injuries.

After killing his wife, Abhishek also filed a 'missing complaint' at Kotwali Sadar police station. "Mr Awasthi locked the dead body in a suitcase and went to their clinic Gauri Chikitsalaya and called an ambulance and cremated the body nearly 400 km away in Garh Mukteshwar," Arun Kumar Singh, ASP, Kheri said. 

The police detained the accused Mr Awasthi for questioning on Monday and a day later he confessed that he committed the crime.

The police investigation has revealed that Abhishek murdered her along with her father. The police registered a case of murder and arrested both of them.

Mr Singh also informed that the accused told the ambulance driver that the woman died in an accident and took her body in the vehicle for quick cremation.

According to the police, Vandana Shukla, also an ayurvedic doctor, married Abhishek, a resident of Mohalla Bahadurnagar, Lakhimpur city in 2014. The couple built a hospital named Gauri Chikitsalaya on Sitapur Road and used to practice there. Gradually marital disputes started between the couple and Vandana decided to practice at Laxmi Narayan Hospital in Chamalpur, the police added.

Circle Officer of Lakhimpur Sadar, Sandeep Singh said, "We received a complaint on November 27 from Abhishek that his wife had gone missing. He told police that she had left her home with some valuables. The police got to know about the couple's marital issues and put Mr Awasthi on our watch list."