The family of Nikki Yadav — the 23-year-old strangled allegedly by her live-in partner in Delhi — claim they did not know of the relationship. Her father has demanded the death penalty for Sahil Gehlot. “They talk of educating girls. Beti padhao. But where is the safety? They cannot provide safety to women. On top of it, the police are claiming that she was in a live-in relationship for four years. All false rumours,” her uncle Suresh Yadav told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
Nikki Yadav’s body was found on Tuesday, when many in the country were celebrating Valentine’s Day. Sahil Gehlot had killed her during an argument on Saturday and stuffed her body inside a fridge at his family-owned restaurant, the police have said.
The argument was about Sahil’s marriage with another woman, which took place the same evening, hours after the murder. The police said Nikki, who had a live-in relationship with Sahil Gehlot for long, had no clue about the marriage.
“We do not know about her live-in situation. Our whole family have no idea. These are lies that are being spread. She was sharing a room with her younger sister for the last eight months,” Nikki Yadav’s father Sunil Yadav told NDTV. Nikki’s younger sister is pursuing a Master’s degree in commerce.
The family is from Haryana’s Jhajjar district and Mr Yadav runs a motor repair business in Gurugram.
Nikki, he said, used to speak to her mother on phone every evening. Asked if they had no idea about the existence of Sahil Gehlot, he said, “No. We had no idea… My younger daughter does not know anything about this. Her mother does not know anything either,” he said.
His daughter, he said, was an intelligent woman who had dreams of becoming a professor.
The car in which Nikki Yadav was allegedly killed has been seized, sources said. Sahil Gehlot, who broke during questioning by the police, eventually led them to the body on Tuesday. He has been placed in police custody for five days.
This is the second murder of a young woman in Delhi allegedly by her live-in partner. Last year, Shraddha Walkar was murdered by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawalla, who chopped her body into pieces and stored them in a fridge before disposing them across the city, the police have said.
