Bahraich (UP)~ A decade-long marriage, six children and a deadly secret. Police in Bahraich say a woman and her paramour murdered her sleeping husband, then tried to blame his relatives in a twisted bid to cover their tracks.

Police on Sunday said woman along with her paramour was arrested on charges of murdering her husband, who had opposed the relationship.

The deceased, identified as Zakir Ali (35), was a resident of Alinagar Kala village and had been married to Haseena Begum (30) for 10 years. The couple's family includes six children, officials said.

According to the police, Zakir's body was found on Saturday morning under a tin shed in the verandah of their house.

Haseena initially informed the Khairighat police on Saturday that Zakir's uncle, Asif Ali, and his relatives, Rozan and Nafees, murdered her husband over a dispute regarding the division of ancestral land. However, as police registered a case and began investigating the complaint, a different story emerged, sources said.

Investigation teams, utilising evidence and information from informants, learned that Haseena was having an affair with Abdul Salam (20), alias Piddi, and that the two conspired to commit the murder, Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural), Durga Prasad Tiwari said.

The Additional SP further informed that Haseena and Salam were arrested on Sunday and interrogated, after which they confessed to their crime.

Their confession revealed that they had been involved in a relationship for nearly two years and that Zakir was an obstacle to their plans. Consequently, they devised a plan to kill him and frame his relatives for the murder, the officer added.

Revealing the details of their plan, the officer said that on the night of October 24, once Zakir fell asleep, Haseena called Salam to her house.

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