Bride shot dead by robbers on Meerut highway for jewellery
A 22-year-old newly-wed woman was shot dead by robbers on Meerut highway late on Friday night for artificial jewelry they mistook for gold. They also stole whatever little cash the couple had and the rented new Swift Dzire car in which they were travelling. The cold-blooded murder serves as a fresh reminder that night-time highway travel in Uttar Pradesh can be fatal. Here's more.
The couple was returning home after getting married
According to Hindustan Times, Shahzeb, a Muzaffarnagar resident, and his bride Farhana, a resident of Ghaziabad's Nahal village, were returning home after getting married. They both belonged to poor families. En route, they stopped for dinner at a roadside eatery on NH 58. But at 11pm when they resumed their journey, a car with four men started chasing them and overtook their vehicle.
Farhana started screaming. They killed her to shut her up
The robbers held the couple at gunpoint and demanded all the cash and jewelry. When Farhana started to scream in fear, they shot her in the chest to silence her. They then dragged her out of the rented cab and drove away in it with the loot. Farhana was declared brought dead at the Muzaffarnagar medical college, 25km away from the crime spot.
Who was Farhana?
One among nine siblings, she studied only till Class 5. She managed to earn Rs. 50-60 a day by doing embroidery work, reports HT. Talks of her marriage with Shahzeb had been on since the last six months. Since Farhana's father keeps ill, locals from her village, including the Dasna nagar palika chairperson had pooled in funds for her marriage.
The car of the robbers has been identified
Meerut police have identified the robbers' car after closely examining the CCTV footage of NH-58's toll barrier. "Four criminals were seen travelling in a car. They used a fake number plate. We have formed four teams to investigate and arrest the culprits," Manzil Saini, senior superintendent of police, Meerut, told HT. A manhunt has been launched to nab the culprits at the earliest.
