“A Mother’s Lie”

In 2016, in the quiet streets of Abohar’s Govind Nagar colony, a mother’s secret life collided with her daughter’s innocence—ending in tragedy that left a community in shock.

Manju lived with her husband, Rajendra Kumar, the son of a respected jeweler named Ramchandra. Rajendra’s family was known for their successful jewelry and bangle business in Anariwala. It was at this shop that Rajendra first met Manju—a beautiful, confident, and clever woman who would come in often to browse. Rajendra, taken by her charm, soon fell in love. He later discovered she was from his aunt’s village, which made approaching her easier.

Their love blossomed quickly. After a period of secret meetings and emotional connection, Rajendra mustered the courage to tell his family about her. At first, they resisted the match, but Rajendra’s insistence eventually won them over. The couple got married and began their new life together.

But the love story soured not long after the wedding.

Manju, who had dreamed of freedom and independence, found the traditional, joint family lifestyle stifling. Rajendra, by contrast, was a simple man rooted in family values. She soon convinced him to separate from the family and start fresh. Rajendra agreed, thinking it would make her happy.

He opened a small tanki-making shop about 15 kilometers away in a village called Ballwana. However, with little experience in the trade, the shop failed. Financial pressures began to mount. They moved into a small rented house in Nanak Nagri, and Rajendra began driving someone’s vehicle for income.

During this period, Manju gave birth to two children: a daughter, Deeksha, and a son, Nakul. Raising children was expensive, and their financial troubles grew. To help support the household, Manju took up work at a local shop.

But once Manju started working outside, everything changed.

She began mingling with new people. Her behavior at home shifted—she grew distant from Rajendra and the children. She stayed out late, ignored her family, and took little interest in home life. Rajendra, stressed and helpless, turned to alcohol for solace.

Eventually, Manju and her mother threw Rajendra out of the house. Humiliated and broken, he left without protest—and never returned. A few weeks later, he passed away under unknown circumstances. Manju now bore the sole responsibility of raising their children.

To escape gossip and societal pressure, she moved into a new rented home in Panjpir Nagar. There, her lifestyle changed dramatically. She started riding a scooter, bought a high-end phone, and became active on social media. She longed for companionship.

She created a Facebook account and soon connected with Vijay Kumar, a construction worker from Haryana working in Saudi Arabia. They began chatting, and a long-distance friendship blossomed into a romantic attachment.

Despite having a three-year overseas work contract, Vijay broke it after just two years, returned to India, and moved in with Manju. To avoid suspicion, she introduced him to neighbors as her “aunt’s son.”

But not everyone believed it—especially her 17-year-old daughter, Deeksha.

Deeksha, sharp and observant, grew suspicious. She knew her mother’s relatives well and had never heard of Vijay. More troubling, she noticed the closeness between her mother and Vijay. The relationship didn’t feel like that of cousins—it felt like something more.

Deeksha began to observe carefully. She watched how her mother behaved around Vijay. But what she didn’t know was that Vijay, too, had taken a disturbing interest in her. After meeting Deeksha, he grew infatuated.

In time, Deeksha began to respond to Vijay’s attention. Emotionally vulnerable and yearning for love, she believed Vijay truly cared for her.

What began as a lie had now spiraled into a dangerous love triangle: a mother in love with a man, and her teenage daughter caught in the middle. The household became a battleground. Arguments erupted frequently between Manju and Deeksha. The tension grew unbearable.

On the evening of May 24, 2016, everything fell apart.

A bitter argument between mother and daughter escalated out of control. Manju, overwhelmed with jealousy and rage, grabbed Deeksha’s dupatta and strangled her in a fit of fury. Vijay, who stood nearby, did nothing to stop her.

After the murder, they tried to cover it up. They hung Deeksha’s body from the ceiling fan to make it look like a suicide. Then they left the house and went shopping, hoping to create an alibi.

When the police arrived later that evening, Manju quietly slipped them a note she claimed was a suicide letter written by Deeksha. But forensic handwriting analysis later proved it was forged. Investigators also noted inconsistencies in the timeline, witness statements, and the condition of the crime scene.

Suspicion grew. The police interrogated both Manju and Vijay. Eventually, faced with mounting evidence, they both confessed.

Vijay admitted he had fallen in love with Manju online but had grown distant after meeting Deeksha. He regretted everything. Manju, however, showed no remorse. She believed her daughter had become an obstacle to her happiness—and justified her actions.

Both were arrested and remanded into police custody. The case drew national media attention and shocked the community. What began as a Facebook friendship ended in betrayal, manipulation, and murder.