Sonubai Chavhan was beheaded by her husband Ramchandra Sheu Chavan on the suspicion that she was having an affair outside the marriage. (Source: Express photo by Pavan Khengre) Sonubai Chavhan was beheaded by her husband Ramchandra Sheu Chavan on the suspicion that she was having an affair outside the marriage. (Source: Express photo by Pavan Khengre)

The city police on Friday arrested a man for beheading his wife who he suspected had an affair with their son-in-law. The accused was arrested from the road near Ganga Osian Park in Katraj around 11 am when he was seen walking with an axe in one hand and his wife’s head in the other.

Police have identified the suspect as Ramchandra Sheu Chavan (53), a resident of Oswal Plot near Ganga Osian Park, Sukhsagar Nagar. His deceased wife has been identified as Sonabai Ramchandra Chavan (45).

Pune man, Ramchandra Sheu Chavan (53) who walked with his wife Sonabai’s head on the road. (Source: File photo) Pune man, Ramchandra Sheu Chavan (53) who walked with his wife Sonabai’s head on the road. (Source: File photo)

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Chavan’s daughter-in-law Sunita Rajesh Chavan (25) filed an FIR at Bharati Vidyapeeth police station.

Police said though Chavan is a native of Gulbarga in Karnataka, he has been staying in Pune for the past 40 years. He has been working as a watchman at Oswal plot for the past 20 years and resides in a house on the plot with his wife, sons Rajesh and Umesh, daughter-in-law Sunita and two grandsons. His two daughters are married and live out of Pune, they added.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that Chavan used to often quarrel with his wife and also suspected her of having an affair with their son-in-law. On Friday morning, after his sons Rajesh and Umesh left home for work, Chavan had a heated argument with his wife. As things went out of control, he locked up his daughter-in-law and two grandsons in a room and beheaded his wife with an axe.

He did not stop here, but picked up her head in one hand and the axe in another and walked out of the house. As passersby saw him walking along the street, they quickly informed the police control room. Meanwhile, some people present at the spot clicked his photographs and recorded the video on their cellphones.

A motorcyclist, in the meantime, informed the traffic personnel on duty at Rajesh society area about the man.

Soon, traffic policemen V K Kumkar, D N Jagtap and Bhalchandra Tanvar rushed to the spot. Assistant police inspector Sanjay Chavan and constables Rahul Kadam and Mukund Pawar who were patrolling the area also reached the spot and arrested Chavan before taking him to the police station. They later sent his wife’s body for postmortem.

On learning about the incident, senior officers, including Deputy Commissioner

of Police (Zone II) Sudhakar Pathare, Assistant Commissioner of Police Atmacharan Shinde, Senior Inspector Machhindra Chavan and Senior Inspector (traffic) Chandrakant Bhosale also visited the crime scene for investigation.

During investigation, the police questioned Chavan’s family to ascertain the cause behind the crime and also recorded their statements. Police also recorded statements of some eyewitnesses in the case.

DCP Pathare said from investigations so far, it is clear that Chavan killed his wife over her affair with their son-in-law. He was booked under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

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