Delhi: Nikki Yadav Seen In CCTV Footage Hours Before Murder By Boyfriend, Family Demands Death Sentence

In CCTV footage retrieved by Delhi Police, Nikki Yadav was seen alive hours before she was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Sahil Gehlot. 

In a case that reminds of Shraddha Walkar murder last year, 23-year-old Yadav was allegedly killed by her boyfriend and live-in partner Sahil. Following the alleged murder, Sahil stored Yadav's body in fridge in his family-owned eatery in Delhi's Mitraon village. 

The Delhi Police recovered Yadav's body on Tuesday. Sahil was arrested and a court granted the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police his custody for five days. 

What we know of Nikki Yadav murder case?

Nikki Yadav, 23, was allegedly killed by her 24-year-old boyfriend and live-in partner Sahil Gehlot.

Sahil allegedly strangled Yadav to death in his car near Kashmere Gate in Delhi. After he killed her, the Delhi Police said Sahil stuffed her body inside a refrigerator of his dhaba (eatery) in southwest Delhi and went off to marry another woman the same day.

The Delhi Police said Sahil drove around 30-40 km to his dhaba along with her body in his car. The car used in the commission of crime has been seized by the police.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Archana Beniwal granted the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police custody of Sahil for five days to interrogate him and ascertain the exact scene of the murder and the route he took after committing the alleged crime.

In their remand application, police said they needed to take the accused to the places where he had gone with her. They said the investigators intended to conduct searches at places linked to the crime and collect evidence.

The police said the accused had hidden from his girlfriend the fact that his marriage was fixed with another woman. When Yadav came to know about the wedding, she had a heated argument with Gehlot which led to her murder.

"It has been claimed that she was threatening to implicate the man in a case if he married another woman," a source claimed.

The couple had been in a relationship for the past few years and Yadav wanted to marry the accused, the police said.

The alleged murder took place on the intervening night of February 9 and 10 when the victim confronted the accused about his marriage, a senior police officer said, adding that he killed her using the data cable of his mobile phone in his car and then kept the body in the refrigerator.

Narrating the sequence of events, the officer said Yadav was unhappy with the fact that Gehlot was getting married. On February 9 -- the day the accused got engaged -- she called him up and told him to come to her flat in Uttam Nagar.

"The accused went to the victim's place in his car and picked her up from there. She kept pressuring him to not get married. She had already planned to go with him to Goa and had booked tickets for February 9. She asked him to accompany her to Goa but he refused. This led to an argument and in anger, he killed her inside his car," the officer said.

Nikki Yadav seen in CCTV footage

The Delhi Police on Wednesday retrieved footage from CCTV cameras that showed 23-year-old Nikki Yadav in her rented house hours before she was allegedly killed by her live-in partner Sahil Gehlot.

The CCTV footage retrieved by the Delhi Police are from February 9, the day of Gehlot's engagement. Yadav allegedly called to meet Gehlot and express her displeasure at his decision to get married.

The first footage, which bears a timestamp of 1.10 pm, shows Yadav taking clothes upstairs to her rented home. The second footage, timestamped at 9.27 pm, shows her going out of the building, but within a minute, she returned.

In the footage, it is not clear as to why she went out of the building for a minute. In the footage, she was all alone.

A senior police officer said, "We are looking into the CCTV footage and also scanning for more to collect evidence and ascertain the sequence of events that unfolded on the day of the murder."

Nikki Yadav's family demands death sentence 

Nikki Yadav's family members demanded that accused Sahil Gehlot be hanged to death for the alleged murder.

Waiting outside the mortuary of the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital on Wednesday, Nikki Yadav's family members, who came from their village in Haryana's Jhajjar district, are yet to come to terms with the fact that their daughter, who was very ambitious and was preparing for her PHD, is no more.

"I am numb. I don't know what to say. I am currently not in a position to speak since I am yet come to terms with what has happened to my sister," Nidhi told PTI over phone.

While leaving their hometown, Yadav's father Sunil Yadav, who runs a motor vehicle repair business in Gurugram, told mediapersons, "Our daughter is gone. She is no more. All we want now is justice. The culprit should be awarded the strictest punishment and should be hanged to death for his brutal crime."

Nikki's elder cousin Jagdish Yadav, who was waiting outside the mortuary, said they were not aware about her relationship with Sahil Gehlot nor had she ever told any member of her family about the man.

(With PTI inputs)