Rajkot: What initially appeared to be a natural death of a 33-year-old woman in Gandhidham, Kutch, has turned out to be a murder after forensic postmortem revealed she died from multiple assault injuries, prompting Kutch East police to arrest her husband.Sonam Sunar died at her residence in the Bharatnagar area of Gandhidham on July 17. While funeral preparations were underway, Gandhidham City A Division police received information raising suspicion over the circumstances of her death.Autopsy concluded that Sonam had died due to multiple injuries after being assaulted using a belt with a metal buckle. Police registered an offence of murder under BNS and arrested her 35-year-old husband Sultan Sumra, with whom she had been living since 2011.The action was taken after Sonam’s brother, Rahul Sunar, filed a complaint.According to the FIR, Sonam had informed her cousin Santosh that Sultan had been assaulting her since long and feared he would kill her if members of her family came to meet her. Sonam had eloped with Sultan in 2011 and gradually lost contact with her family, remaining out of touch with them for the past four years, said police.Deputy superintendent of police, Anjar, Mukesh Chaudhary told TOI that preliminary investigation indicated Sultan frequently suspected Sonam’s character and subjected her to physical and mental abuse. He allegedly assaulted her with a belt, causing the fatal injuries, he added.Investigating officer Mehulkumar Rathod said police recovered the belt. “The forensic postmortem confirmed that Sonam died due to multiple injuries,” he added.Police said the couple had three children, two sons and a daughter. Sultan reportedly worked as a driver and also undertook casual labour.
