New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested the wife of Rohit Shekhar Tiwari, son of the late veteran politician ND Tiwari, on charges of murder. Apoorva Tiwari, a lawyer practising in the Supreme Court, is accused of killing her husband on account of "a turbulent and unhappy marriage".

A court in Delhi later sent her to police custody for two days.

Rohit Shekhar was brought to south Delhi’s Max Hospital on the evening of April 16, where he was declared dead on arrival. While initial reports suggested he had died of a heart attack, a police investigation suspected foul play. Two days after the murder, the police had framed charges of murder and had summoned Apoorva Tiwari, another relative, and two domestic aides for questioning.

A few days after the murder, Rohit Shekhar’s mother, Ujjwala, had alleged that Apoorva and her family were money-minded people and their motive was to acquire their property. Ujjwala had also revealed that the couple’s marriage had been under strain.

According to an autopsy report conducted by a board of directors at AIIMS here, Rohit Shekhar was smothered to death on the intervening night of April 15 and April 16.

"On the night of the incident, the couple had a fight over a relative. Rohit had been drinking all the way from Uttarakhand to Delhi and was not in a condition to resist. During the fight, she pounced on him and smothered him," said Additional Commissioner (Crime) Rajeev Ranjan.

"She has confessed. As of now, from the fact and circumstances, it seems the killing was not planned. The background was there that they had a turbulent marriage and Rohit Shekhar and his family were thinking of separation. After interrogation, it was found that Apoorva Shukla Tiwari and Rohit had a turbulent marriage. All her hopes with the marriage were belied," Ranjan added.

Rohit Shekhar and a few relatives had gone to Uttarakhand to vote in the Lok Sabha elections on April 12 and returned on the night of April 15. According to the police, Rohit Shekhar had consumed alcohol all the way to Delhi, along with a female relative.

As per the sequence of events, Rohit Shekhar had dinner with his mother and other relatives at their home in Delhi, after which they retired for the night. At around 4 pm on April 15, a servant noticed that Rohit Shekhar had failed to respond and found him in the room, bleeding through the nose.

An ambulance was summoned and Rohit Shekhar was shifted to the Max Hospital in Saket, where he was declared dead upon arrival. The post-mortem concluded that the cause of death was asphyxiation due to smothering and strangulation.

The police then registered an FIR under section 302 of IPC (pertaining to murder) and the investigation was handed over to the Crime Branch. After probing every angle for four days, the authorities concluded that Apoorva had killed her husband.

The police said that Apoorva Tiwari had fought on the night of April 15 as well. She killed him around 1 am on April 16. The next day, when Ujjwala inquired about her son, everyone said he was sleeping. Since Rohit Shekhar suffered from insomnia, no one woke him up as well, they said.

While the murder does not appear to be pre-planned, the police said they have asked for Apoorva Tiwari to be remanded for further interrogation.