Pune: A 31-year-old software engineer allegedly killed his three-month-pregnant wife at their rented home in Dehugaon early on Sunday, staged a robbery and jumped from the second floor of the building to mislead investigators, police said on Monday.Akash Baraskar, who is being treated at a hospital, allegedly slit the throat of his wife, Shubhangi (28), and later told investigators that robbers had attacked the couple. Police said the claim fell apart after residents reported that the couple had been quarrelling until 4am.Senior police inspector Vikram Bansode of Dehu Road police said, “Around 6am on Sunday, we received information that a person had been attacked in Dehugaon. On reaching the spot, a police team found Baraskar lying on the ground.”He said, “Baraskar told police that robbers had attacked him and his wife and that she was lying in their second-floor rented accommodation. Police found the woman severely injured and unconscious.”Police took the couple to a hospital, where doctors pronounced Shubhangi dead. “Though we began probing a robbery attempt, we became suspicious when residents of the building told us the couple had been quarrelling until 4am on Sunday. They also told us that the couple had been quarrelling ever since they moved into the building about five months ago,” Bansode said.“During questioning, he admitted to killing his wife with a sharp weapon. He then inflicted injuries on himself and jumped from the balcony,” the officer said.Baraskar is from Ahilyanagar district and works with a software company in Hinjewadi. Shubhangi worked for a private company. They got married in 2023.Shubhangi’s father, in his complaint lodged on Sunday night, alleged that Baraskar had been harassing his daughter because she opposed his decision to buy farmland in his hometown in Ahilyanagar district. He also accused Baraskar of neglecting her despite knowing that she was pregnant.Baraskar, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital, has been charged under Section 103 (murder) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). He will be taken into custody once he is discharged.
