A Delhi woman missing, two bodies, no answers: Inside a murder probe that unravelled

It was a cold winter evening five years ago when Ankit Bhati (27) arrived at the New Ashok Nagar police station in East Delhi.

- GNS News Agency, July 11

His wife, 23-year-old Sheetal, had been missing, he told the police. He suspected her parents, who had disapproved of their relationship from the start. Then, a highly decomposed body was discovered in a canal in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr. Ankit was shown a photo, and he identified it as Sheetal. Based on his complaint and their investigation, police arrested the parents and four other relatives. The police case was that they strangled her, drove to the canal, and dumped her body. But in November 2023, the case took a dramatic turn — DNA tests came back negative. The body was not Sheetal’s.

And the police probe hit a wall. So, what happened? Sheetal and Ankit’s courtship started around 2016, according to court documents. It was a classic meet-cute — they were supposed to find a match for a common friend, but they fell in love instead. They both lived in New Ashok Nagar, they were neighbours — Sheetal was staying with her parents, taking tuition classes, while Ankit was working at his uncle’s dairy shop in the locality. The couple then decided to tell their parents about the relationship. Sheetal's parents did not take the news well. According to police, they allegedly beat her up and didn’t allow her to leave the house for a while after she told them. On October 23, 2019, the couple secretly tied the knot at an Arya Samaj temple in Tis Hazari, according to court documents, and continued living at home.