Wife and Cousin Charged in Shocking Murder Plot Uncovered Through Instagram

New Delhi: Instagram chats between the accused have revealed disturbing details behind the death of 36-year-old Karan Dev in Dwarka. 

What initially appeared to be a tragic case of accidental electrocution has now been exposed as a premeditated murder orchestrated by a woman and her husband’s cousin, according to police in Delhi. 

Karan was found unconscious at his residence on July 13 and declared dead at a hospital in Janakpuri. His wife, Sushmita, told family members that he had suffered an electric shock at home. Believing it to be a natural incident, the family declined a post-mortem.

However, due to the victim’s young age and suspicious circumstances, police sent the body for autopsy at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital. Days later, the case took a dramatic turn when Karan’s younger brother, Kunal Dev, uncovered a conversation on Instagram between Sushmita and Rahul (Kunal’s cousin) indicating a conspiracy to kill him.

The messages revealed that Sushmita had mixed 15 sleeping pills in her husband’s meal on the night of July 12. When the sedatives didn’t take effect quickly, she panicked and consulted Rahul over chat.

“Check how long it takes to die after taking the medicine… It’s been three hours… no vomiting, no death yet. What should we do?” she messaged.

Rahul responded, “If you can’t figure anything out, give him a shock.”

The conversation continued with Sushmita asking how to administer the shock and how to tie him up, to which Rahul suggested using tape. Eventually, the duo resorted to electrocuting Karan, applying electric current to his finger while he was sedated, in an attempt to stage the murder as an accident.

After the act, Sushmita allegedly informed her in-laws that Karan had received an electric shock. The family rushed him to the hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.

Following the revelation of the chats, Kunal preserved video evidence of the messages and handed it to the police. An FIR was filed, and both suspects were arrested. During interrogation, they reportedly confessed.

Further investigation found that the accused had searched online for terms like “time of death after 15 sleeping pills”, which helped police confirm premeditation. Sushmita also recorded a video confession, citing alleged domestic abuse and financial pressure as her reasons.