Gurugram: This murder has all the ingredients for a super Bollywood crime thriller. Love, sex, betrayal, hatred, revenge, murder, extramarital affairs, violence... this story has everything in it.
It all started with a real estate deal in 2015. Shefali Bhasin Tiwari, 35, a former freelance journalist, wanted to sell her flat in Ansal Valley View Society on Gurugram-Faridabad Road in Gurugram, Haryana. Vikram Chauhan, a senior employee with an infrastructure development firm and father of a four-year-old daughter and a six-month-old son, bought the flat. The deal did not end there. Shefali, who also stays in the same residential society in another flat, and Vikram started talking to each other during their morning walks and other gatherings in the residential society. It did not take much time for the duo to develop an intimate affair.
The only problem with the relationship was that both of them were already married — Vikram to 32-year-old Deepika, a senior bank official, in 2013 and Shefali to her college boyfriend.
Murder plot
Deepika, as per initial reports, jumped off her eighth floor flat on October 27, 2018. It was on Karwa Chauth day when married women in northern India fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands. According to police sources, Deepika had also observed fast.
Police were not ready to accept the suicide story. They further probed into the case and slowly a well-planned plot of a murder emerged.
According to police and media reports, Deepika had found out that Vikram was having an affair with Shefali, who was a regular visitor at their home. She objected to this which angered Vikam, who started bashing up his wife.
Meantime, Shefali and Vikram decided to seek divorce from their respective partners. Shefali managed to convince her husband on this but Deepika was not ready to leave Vikram. Months of negotiations failed to convince Deepika, who sought the help of her in-laws (Vikram's parents) to sort out the issue. This further infuriated Vikram. Even Vikram's parents failed to convince him to end his extra-marital affair.
Immediately after the parents left his flat on October 27 around 9.30 pm, Vikram dragged his wife to the balcony and pushed her out from the eighth floor. He broke a few flower pots to make it look like a suicide.
Suspecting foul play, sleuths continued their probe and collected data from Vikram's phone, mails and neighbours. According to media reports, a neighbour had witnessed how Vikram pushed his wife from the balcony but did not report it to the police immediately.
Vikram was arrested on October 29, two days after the murder, following a complaint filed by Deepika's father Harikishan Ahuja.
“Shefali used to frequently visit the couple's apartment, causing a discord between Deepika and Vikram," Ahuja alleged in the complaint.
Mad in love
Police claimed that Vikram was ready to do anything to live with Shefali, who kept on asking him to get rid of Deepika. According to cops, Shefali was already six months pregnant with Vikram's baby now. Once Shefali's husband agreed for the divorce, she insisted that Vikram must eliminate Deepika if she doesn't agree for a divorce. Deepika was adamant and refused to divorce Vikram. Angry over this, Shefali and Vikram stared planning for the murder. According to emails between the duo, Vikram and Shefali had visited Leh-Ladak together in April, 2018. During this trip they hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Deepika. As part of this plot, Vikram took his wife and kids to Nainital for a vacation on October 24. The plan was to take Deepika to the edge of a rock and push her down to death. However, the plot failed as Deepika refused to go out of the hotel room. During the stay of the couple in Nainital, Shefali kept on prompting Vikram to get rid of Deepika. Once he sent a message to Shefali, saying that the plot failed she called Vikram a 'loser'.
Vikram and Deepika returned to their Gurugram flat and Vikram's parents came to their home on October 27. They tried to mediate peace but failed and Deepika threatened to confront Shefali in the society. This angered Vikram who immediately contacted Shefali, who asked him to throw Deepika down from the balcony and he did exactly that.
'I love my kids'
Police said till the last moment, Deepika pleaded with Vikram for her life, saying she loved her children. “Please don't kill me, I love my children” were her last words, police said.
This was apparently revealed by a neighbour who witnessed the incident. The couple's four-year-old daughter and six-month-old son were asleep when the incident occurred.
Police said Deepika had clung onto Vikram's wrist when he pushed her from the balcony but he unlocked the grip and she fell down. According to medical reports, there were nail marks on Vikram's wrist.
Shefali's arrest
Gurugram police on November 14 arrested Shefali Bhasin Tiwari for conspiring to kill Deepika. Police told mediapersons that they have enough evidence to nail Vikram and Shefali. The duo had even stored photographs and video clips of their intimate acts in a common mail account. There were hundreds of chats and mail exchanges between the two talking about the plot to eliminate Deepika.
In fact, the final order to kill Deepika on that fateful night at 9.37 came from Shefali: “Balcony se phek do kamini ko (Push her off the balcony)”. She wrote.
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