Ghaziabad, May 16 (IANS) A shocking incident was reported from Rawali Kala village in Ghaziabad’s Muradnagar area on Saturday, where an octogenarian murdered his 72-year-old wife with an axe before surrendering at a police outpost.

According to police, the 80-year-old accused, identified as Harpal, arrived at the Rawali police outpost and informed officials that he had killed his wife, Urmila, at their residence on Friday.

After receiving the information, police personnel rushed to the spot and found the elderly woman lying on a cot in a pool of blood. She was immediately taken to the Community Health Centre, where doctors declared her dead.

Police said the accused has been taken into custody, and the body has been sent for post-mortem examination. Further legal proceedings in the case are underway.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Modinagar, Bhaskar Verma, said that Harpal, son of Khachedu and a resident of the Rawali outpost area under Muradnagar police station, personally came to the police outpost and confessed to the crime that he had committted.

“On May 16, Harpal informed police that he had murdered his wife with an axe earlier. The accused has been taken into custody. The body has been sent for post-mortem, and further investigation is underway,” ACP Verma said.

According to family members, Harpal had been staying at his daughter’s house, and his mental health had reportedly been unstable for some time. Frequent disputes between the elderly couple were also reported by the family.

The deceased woman’s grandson, Kunal, told police that his grandfather often picked fights with the family over minor issues.

“At the time of the incident, my brother and I were sleeping in another room, while our parents had gone to Meerut. We came to know about the incident only after the police arrived in the morning,” Kunal said.

Police are continuing their investigation to ascertain the exact circumstances behind the murder of the elderly woman.

–IANS

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