Man disguised as sadhu kills estranged wife with hammer

New Delhi: A 50-year-old woman was bludgeoned to death with a hammer allegedly by her estranged husband -- who arrived from Bihar disguised as a sadhu -- in south Delhi’s Neb Sarai area, police said

Pramod Jha alias Pappu (60) attacked his wife Kiran Jha inside her house in the early hours of Wednesday in what the police called a pre-planned attack.

Kiran, who worked as a caregiver, was found lying in a pool of blood by her daughter-in-law around 4 am, DCP (South) Ankit Chauhan said.

“The accused arrived in Delhi from his native village in Bihar’s Munger district on August 1 after nearly a decade-long separation with his wife. He reportedly dressed as a sadhu to mislead his family members and gain access to the house,” the DCP said. Kiran had been living separately from her husband for the past 10 years due to repeated instances of domestic violence. She lived with her son Durgesh, daughter-in-law Kamal Jha, and a granddaughter in Neb Sarai, the officer said, adding that Durgesh works with a microfinance company in Darbhanga, Bihar.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had no stable means of income and had sold off his ancestral property. He was pressuring his wife to return to Bihar and earn money, which she refused,” the officer said.