Jaipur Police on Friday arrested a 42-year-old man after the body of his wife was found in the couple's rented flat in the Pratap Nagar area, in a case where police say the woman had allegedly been killed two days earlier and the accused remained in the room with her body and the couple's three young children before informing the police himself.

Source: Newsd

The deceased was identified as Lakshmi Regar, 38, who worked as a labourer. The accused, Pradeep, works as a painter and is originally from Ajmer, while Lakshmi was from Bundi. The couple lived with their three children in a rented flat on the sixth floor of Dwarkapuri Apartments in Pratap Nagar.

Source: Bhilwara Halchal

According to police, an argument broke out between the couple over a domestic matter on Wednesday. During the altercation, Pradeep allegedly struck Lakshmi on the head with a metal rod, and she died of her injuries. Sanganer ACP Deepak Kumar Khandelwal said the body had been kept in the room for two days, and that the accused contacted the police control room on Friday and said a dispute had taken place between him and his wife, resulting in her death.

Pratap Nagar police station in-charge Vikrant Sharma said that when a police team reached the flat after the call, the room was locked from outside. Inside, officers found Lakshmi's body and the couple's three children — a three-year-old daughter, a son aged one and a half years, and an infant of two and a half months. A Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team collected evidence from the room, and the body was sent to the mortuary of Mahatma Gandhi Hospital for a post-mortem examination. Police said the preliminary assessment indicated that the death had occurred about two days earlier.

Police said Pradeep left the flat after making the call, leaving the children behind. He was traced through his mobile phone location and was found hiding in a lane near the apartment building, from where he was arrested. He is being questioned to establish the full sequence of events.

Residents of the apartment complex told reporters that the couple had moved into the rented flat recently, and a shopkeeper in the building, Ramesh, said Pradeep, who came daily to buy milk and other items, had not been seen at the shop for two days. Residents also said Lakshmi had bought items for the Karwa Chauth fast and puja a day before the incident. Police said the investigation is continuing and the allegations against the accused are yet to be tested in court.