In a shocking incident on Valentine's Day, a man and a woman were discovered dead inside a car in Noida's Sector 107, both suffering from gunshot wounds, leaving the local community reeling. Police investigations point to a tragic murder-suicide, with the man identified as Sumit allegedly shooting his partner Rekha before turning the gun on himself. However, Sumit's family has vehemently contested this narrative, raising suspicions of foul play and alleging caste-based threats from the woman's relatives.
The bodies were found on Saturday morning inside a car parked near pillar number 84 on Dadri Road, falling under the jurisdiction of the Sector 39 police station. The discovery has intensified scrutiny on the circumstances surrounding the deaths, as the vehicle was located just a few hundred meters from the woman's village in Salarpur—a detail Sumit's family deems highly suspicious.
According to police, a suicide note recovered from the car revealed that Sumit and Rekha had been in a relationship for 15 years, but Rekha was reportedly set to marry someone else. This apparent motive has led authorities to classify the incident as a case of murder followed by suicide, though forensic and further inquiries are ongoing.
Sumit's family, however, disputes the suicide angle entirely, claiming the couple fell victim to "casteism" and possible murder orchestrated by external pressures. They allege that the woman's kin subjected the pair to taunts and even made threatening calls from international numbers, warning of police action against them—a claim shared with PTI news agency.
A cousin of Sumit, speaking to PTI, described the longstanding bond between the two, stating, "Sumit is my younger brother. He and the girl had been together for 12-15 years and she attended our family functions. There was never any pressure from our side." The relative expressed firm belief that the deaths were not self-inflicted, emphasizing the families' prior awareness of the relationship spanning over a decade.
The conflicting accounts have cast a shadow over what should have been a day of romance, prompting calls for a thorough investigation into the allegations of caste-based harassment. As police continue to probe the scene and evidence, the case underscores deep-seated tensions in interpersonal relationships marred by societal divisions.
