delhi

Updated: Apr 11, 2018 07:43 IST

An 18-year-old student on Sunday shot and killed his brother-in-law at a private coaching centre in north-east Delhi because he was angry that the man had married his sister, police said.

The Class 12 student, Mohammad Akram, also allegedly tried to shoot his 19-year-old sister, but his friend snatched the pistol before he could pull the trigger. Akram tried to pin the blame for the murder on his sister, but fled and went into hiding after he realised there were eyewitnesses who could identify him as the killer.

Akram was arrested in Loni near Ghaziabad on Monday, said additional deputy commissioner of police (north-east) RP Meena. His sister has also named her father as a conspirator in the crime, but Meena said a probe was on to determine his role.

The woman, Rukaiya Khatoon, told the police that this was the second “honour killing” in her family. She alleged that her father and uncle had killed her cousin 18 years ago because she had got married against the family’s wishes.

Rukaiya’s father Mohammad Rahisuddin denied the allegations, saying he had no criminal record against him. “I have cut off all ties with my brother (father of Rukaiya’s cousin) for years and am not in a position to comment on his family,” he said. Rahisuddin also said he had legally cut ties with his daughter after her marriage and would never take her back into the family.

Rukaiya had left home with 26-year-old Mohammad Atif last year and the two were married on April 14, 2017, according to her statement to the police. “Atif and I belonged to separate castes and my family did not approve of our relationship. My parents had been threatening to kill us ever since then. We never disclosed our home address due to fear,” Rukaiya alleged.

Her brother Akram had been in contact with the couple even while they were cut off by the rest of her family.

“He would often invite us to his coaching centre, where he is pursuing a computer course. His behaviour towards us was different from that of our parents,” she said.

When the couple visited the coaching centre in north-east Delhi’s Meet Nagar at around 2pm on Sunday, they did not suspect anything.

“Akram ordered soft drinks and snacks for us from outside. We were sitting relaxed when he suddenly pulled out a pistol from his bag. Hurling abuses at us for marrying against the wishes of his family, he shot my husband in his head,” Rukaiya said.

“He had more bullets in his pocket. He wanted to kill me next and was loading his pistol when his friend snatched the weapon from him. Akram then tried to blame me for shooting my husband. But his friend who had snatched the pistol from him stood against him,” she alleged.

Rukaiya said she repeatedly slapped her brother in frustration, but he managed to flee the crime scene. Rukaiya called the police and a PCR van rushed Atif to GTB hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.