A 22-year-old woman has been detained by Greater Noida police for allegedly killing a mall employee. The accused, identified as Payal Bhati, faked her death by killing another woman and dressing the corpse in her own clothes, reported India Today.
“Payal Bhati and her partner Ajay Thakur killed Chaudhary after befriending her as she had similar physical attributes to Bhati. They had also planted a purported suicide note in the name of Payal Bhati and made it appear like a case of suicide,” a police officer was quoted by the news agency PTI as saying.
Based on the suicide note, the body was handed over to Bhati’s relatives, who cremated the body. The note mentioned, “My face is now burnt and I don’t want to live.”
Police said that the accused took the victim to Bhati’s house, killed her and distorted her face to make her identification difficult. Bhati then allegedly dressed the corpse in her clothes to fake her own death and then eloped with her partner.
The family members of the deceased had lodged a complaint with the Bisrakh police station after she went missing on 12 November near Gaur city mall.
When contacted, two senior police officers said the details of the investigation in the case would be revealed on Friday.
An initial probe revealed that Payal Bhati’s parents had died by suicide about six months ago and she held her brother’s in-laws responsible for their deaths. Payal’s relatives had taken a loan from her father and when he asked them to repay the money back, relatives started harassing him, which prompted Payal’s father to end his life. Payal staged her own death to frame her relatives in a false case, reads the report.
On the other hand, Payal’s grandfather claimed that she wanted to marry Ajay but she feared that her family would not approve of their relationship. She then faked her own death to create the impression that she is dead.
