Model's married boyfriend confesses to her murder - a day after she was found dead in a canal with her throat slit
A married man who has two children has admitted to killing a model he was in a relationship with and throwing her body in a canal - after first trying to claim she had drowned.
The body of Sheetal Choudhary was found in a canal yesterday, (Monday June 16). Her throat had been cut. Earlier today, her boyfriend - known only as Sunil - was arrested in connection with her death and reportedly confessed to her murder.
Sheetal, who was also known as Simi, was found in a canal in Kharkhoda, near the Indian city of Panipat. Police also state that they found several stabbing marks on the body of the late star, who was identified from tattoos on her hand and chest, according to local media.
It came the day after officers found Sunil’s car in the canal - but not him or Sheetal. Officers soon tracked him down to a local hospital. Hospital staff said the accused had claimed his car had fallen into a canal. He had managed to save himself but could not save Sheetal, he said, and she drowned. He had then taken himself to the hospital for medical treatment.
Earlier today, however, (Tuesday June 17), Sunil allegedly confessed to being responsible for Sheetal’s death and was arrested by police. An investigation is on-going and the motive behind the model’s death is not known. Her body has been sent for postmortem.
Sheetal reportedly worked at Sunil's hotel in Karnal, another city in India, and they had known each other for about six years. Sunil had reportedly proposed to Sheetal, but when she discovered he is a father of two children she said no. Sheetal, who used to work in the Haryanvi music industry, was also married and had a five-month-old child.
Police understand that the pair had an altercation on Saturday night (June 14), which soon turned physical and then fatal. Officers believe that Sunil beat Sheetal before stabbing her several times and throwing her body into a canal.
The model is said to have travelled to the Ahar village in Panipat for an album shoot. At 10:30pm, Sunil arrived there to meet his girlfriend. They got in his car together, where they allegedly had a couple of drinks before an argument started. At around 1:30am on Sunday (June 15), Sheetal made a video call to her sister, Neha, and told her that Sunil was beating her. Soon after, the vodeo call cut out and Neha could not reach out to her sister as her phone has seemingly been switched off.
Neha then reported her sister as missing and told authorities what had happened, leading to local law enforcement to launch a search for Sheetal, Sunil and the car they were in.
“On 15th June, a woman filed a missing report for her sister. The next day, we received information that a body had been found in a canal. The wounds on her body indicated that she may have been murdered.
“Her family said that she went with a man named Sunil. When police suspected his connection with this case, they interrogated him. On 14th June, he took her to a village. Later, they got into a fight, and Sunil attacked her with a knife.He threw her body in a canal.
“We have arrested him. Today, we will present him in court and ask for police remand. We will investigate whether anyone else is involved in this case," Deputy Superintendent of Police in Panipat, Satish Kumar Vats, told local news organisation ANI. The investigation continues.