The second week of February was an eventful one for Sahil Gehlot - from getting married and celebrating with friends to allegedly murdering his live-in girlfriend and subsequently being arrested. According to the police, Nikki Yadav was strangled and left in a dhaba refrigerator in between her partner's wedding festivities with another woman. The crime came to light a few days later on February 14 when the23-year-old's body was recovered after questioning Gehlot.
Police said that the accused had danced and enjoyed with his friends as he got engaged to another woman on February 9. Later that night, he had gone to Yadav's rented house in Uttam Nagar and the latter had even convinced her boyfriend to go on a short trip before his marriage.
The accused told police that he had previously left Yadav's residence around 15 days before the incident.
Reports quoting officials indicate that Gehlot was unsure about about the situation - whether to stay with his live-in partner or marry the woman his parents had arranged for him.
“He said he was in double mind. These are all his version because through local enquiries, we came to know that he was dancing and having fun during his engagement,” officials were quoted as saying.
Yadav's travel plans hit several roadblocks as the duo tried to book flight tickets, changed their destination from Goa to Himachal Pradesh and even drove to the wrong train and bus station. Police suspect that he wanted to get rid of his live-in-partner and was trying to mislead her by assuring her that they would go for a trip.
The two had proceeded to have a conversation near Delhi's Kashmere Gate about his scheduled wedding. Gehlot said during interrogation that he he killed her in the parking lot around Nigam Bodh Ghat between 8:30 am and 9:30 am on 10 February.
"His wedding plan made her angry and she showed her displeasure. Infuriated, Gehlot strangled her and took her body to his dabha in village," an officer said.
Following this, the accused switched off her phone and kept it with him. He also took out her SIM and deleted all data from Nikki's phone.
“The accused knew that his and Nikki Yadav's chat was big evidence for the police, so he deleted all the data as earlier many times they had quarrels through WhatsApp chat,” a Crime Branch source told PTI.
(With inputs from agencies)
