A 24-year-old woman in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district was allegedly murdered by her husband following a heated argument over his addiction to the mobile game PUBG. The victim, identified as Neha Patel, was reportedly strangled with a towel late on Saturday night after she asked her husband, Ranjeet Patel, to focus on finding employment instead of spending hours on gaming. The couple had been married for just six months.
According to police, the accused fled the scene immediately after the crime.
Husband sent chilling message to victim’s family
Police said the accused messaged Neha’s brother-in-law soon after the murder, admitting to killing her and telling the family to ‘take her back.’ Alarmed, relatives rushed to the couple’s house and found Neha lying unresponsive. She was declared dead at the spot.
DSP Headquarters Udit Mishra confirmed the incident, saying, ‘The body was found inside the house with visible strangulation marks. The husband is absconding. Preliminary investigation suggests frequent disputes over his addiction to PUBG. Statements of the family members have been recorded and efforts to arrest the accused are underway.’
Police have registered a case and launched multiple search teams to trace the absconding husband. The body has been sent for post-mortem.
Family alleges dowry harassment, demands arrests
Neha’s family has alleged that the murder stemmed not only from gaming addiction but also ongoing dowry demands. Her brother, Sher Bahadur Patel, claimed that Ranjeet and his family repeatedly pressured Neha for a car and other financial favours, despite earlier settlements.
‘No arrest has been made yet,’ he said, expressing frustration over the pace of action. ‘My sister was married on May 25. He demanded dowry, stopped working and killed her when she asked him to get a job. After murdering her, he texted us saying, ‘Take her back, I have killed her.’’
He demanded that the accused’s father, mother, brother and sister-in-law also be arrested for allegedly harassing Neha.
Police said the investigation is ongoing.
