Cops file chargesheet in Rohit Shekhar murder case

The Delhi Police on Thursday said it has filed a chargesheet against Apoorva Shukla, who was arrested for killing her husband Rohit Shekhar Tiwari, the son of late veteran politician N D Tiwari.

The 518-page chargesheet was filed at the Saket Court and named 56 witnesses, including Rohit Shekhar's mother Ujjwala Tiwari.

Shukla, a 35-year-old lawyer, has been charged under Section 302, which pertains to murder and is punishable with death or life imprisonment, according to the chargesheet.

Shukla 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, it said.

Rohit Shekhar 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 Shekhar's plan to give his share of the property to his sister-in-law's son.

Shukla had political ambitions, but after she got married to Rohit Shekhar she realised that he did not have any political standing and found her dreams would not be fulfilled, the chargesheet mentioned.

His mother Ujjwala Tiwari and sister-in-law thought he should end his marriage and a decision was supposed to be taken on the couple's divorce in June, police had said.

Apoorva Shukla met Rohit Shekhar through a matrimonial website in 2017 and got married in May last year, police said, adding 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 chargesheet said.

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 Shekhar, 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 Shukla had made a video call to Rohit Shekhar to ask him what he wanted to have for dinner, according to the chargesheet.

During the course of the video call, she might have seen the woman relative in the car having liquor with Rohit Shekhar, but she did not say anything, it said.

After Rohit Shekhar returned home around 10 pm, he had dinner alone and went to his room, and in between came out to meet his mother.

Around 12.45 am, Shukla went to Rohit Shekhar'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 chargesheet said.

The forensic experts had said there was no outside entry to the room where Rohit Shekhar was found dead. The CCTV footage from his house, which showed that Apoorva Shukla was one of the last persons to access Rohit Shekhar's room, also has been cited as evidence, police said.

The forensic reports are awaited.

Rohit Shekhar's mother was at the Max Hospital in Saket for treatment when she received a call from home that he was unwell. She then took an ambulance that brought him to the hospital.

He was declared brought dead by doctors and his body was sent for post-mortem to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, police said.

The autopsy was done by a board of five doctors on April 17 and the report revealed that Rohit Shekhar died due to asphyxiation as he was smothered and strangulated, police said.

Following the autopsy report, a murder case was registered and transferred to the Crime Branch, which arrested Shukla on April 24.