BSP MP, wife arrested for murder of domestic help

In yet another case of brutal murder of domestic help in the capital, Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested the influential Bahujan Samaj Party's member of parliament Dhananjay Singh and his dentist wife Jagriti Singh. While Singh has been arrested for destruction of evidence Jagriti faces charges of murder and torture of their 35-year-old maid from Kolkata. The couple had also employed another minor domestic help for more than ten months, a crime that attracts rigorous punishment under Juvenile Justice Act.



Dhananjay, who initially misguided investigators saying that he had no knowledge of torture of his maid Rakhi Bhadra by his wife Jagriti, was arrested on Tuesday evening after his ambiguous explanation of sequence of events to senior police officials. He allegedly helped his wife in cleaning the crime spot in their South Avenue residence on Monday morning and destroyed evidence as well. According to sources, he has also deleted the CCTV footage of almost 20 cameras inside his residence, installed to monitor the domestic helps.



Police have registered a case against under sections 302, 307, 201 (destruction of evidence) of Indian Penal Code and Juvenile Justice Act, while Dhananjay, MP from Jaunpur in UP, was booked under 201 of IPC, Juvenile Justice Act and for concealment of facts. Dhananjay has almost 29 criminal cases, including murder, registered against him. Singh and his wife reportedly have been involved in divorce proceedings for the past seven months. The couple would be produced before the court on Wednesday afternoon.



Preliminary investigations revealed that Jagriti thrashed Rakhi Bhadra and another minor domestic help with rods and sticks for more than 10 months now. Initially, Jagriti also tried to mislead investigators claiming that Bhadra died of falling from terrace but shocking revelation by another minor servant exposed her. Rakhi Bhadra was staying in a servant quarter for the past one year.



Dhananjay also pleaded his innocence till the time police found that he was lying to them and he knew about the incident almost 12 hours before he informed the police.



The murder came to light on Monday evening around 8:05pm when the MP called the police post in-charge of South Avenue, Virdendra Kumar and asked him to come to his flat in South Avenue as their domestic help had died after falling from terrace. After reaching the spot, an investigator immediately shifted the maid's body to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital where doctors declared her brought dead.



Preliminary investigations revealed that Bhadra had more than 20 visible injury marks on arms, face, head, legs and chest. However, when police questioned MP's wife, she told the police that the maid fell from the terrace, while she was cleaning the area and injured herself on November 2. Jagriti who holds a Bachelor's degree in Dental Surgery, instead of taking her to hospital, gave her first aid at home. Jagriti Singh is a dental surgeon at RML hospital. Jagriti is a second wife of Dhananjay, whose first wife committed suicide in 2007.



But Jagriti could not hold the truth to herself for long, as her another minor domestic help claimed that her employer used to beat and torture the deceased and was thrashed mercilessly a day before Diwali with sticks and iron rods. Jagriti made the maid stand outside for hours without food and water on November 3.



"Bhadra was undergoing torture for several months and finally she succumbed to her injuries. She used to beat us over petty issues with iron rods and sticks. She also used hot iron and an antler for torture," the minor help told police. "We have registered a case and are investigating the matter," said Joint Commissioner of police Mukesh Kumar Meena.
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