Hope, and caution in tale of murder of a role model

Nikki Yadav and her infinite dreams were always an inspiration for the girls of Kheri village in Haryana's Jhajjar.

- Karn Pratap Singh and Leena Dhankhar

She wanted to crack the medical entrance test, pivoted towards becoming a college lecturer, enrolled in UPSC coaching classes and lived an independent life in Delhi's Uttam Nagar.

"She wanted to create opportunities for other girls in the village. Nikki was their role model. Other girls too wanted to score well, get into college in Delhi, work outside the village, and dream big... Like her," said Nikki's father, Sunil Yadav (46).

But the 22-year-old met a cruel end on February 10 last year when she was strangled in a car inside the parking lot of Nigambodh Ghat in Delhi, and her body was stuffed inside a fridge at a side aba in southwest Delhi's Mitraon village, allegedly by her partner, Sahil Gehlot.

Hours after she was killed, Sahil got married - a photo of which surfaced on social media, post his arrest by the Delhi police on February 14. Three days later, his father, two cousins, and two friends were also arrested under sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence, and harboring a criminal.

Days after Nikki's body was recovered, however, police found out that Nikki and Sahil who had been together since 2018 - secretly got married in 2020 in Greater Noida.

"Sahil was under family's pressure to marry the woman they had picked for him. His family did not approve of his relationship with Nikki, as she belonged to another caste. Sahil killed Nikki because she learnt about his engagement with another woman and threatened to make their relationship and secret wedding public," said a Delhi Police crime branch officer aware of the investigation.

A year later, Sahil and his five accomplices remain lodged in Tihar jail, Nikki's family battles grief and anger, and the girls of Kheri village wonder why their parents won't let them dream-like Nikki, who was an inspiration to them.

A secret wedding, a secret engagement