To elope with her lover, woman stages her death by killing neighbour, gets life imprisonment

A  32-year-old woman was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Meerut court for murdering her neighbor in an attempt to stage her own death and run away with her partner who practiced another faith. 

The woman is identified as Afshana Begum who killed her neighbour Zeenat Begum (48). 

Zeenat's 13-year-old daughter's testimony, according to Additional District Government Counsel (ADGC) Mukesh Kumar Mittal, "nailed" the convict.

The crime came to light, according to the ADGC, when Zeenat was discovered dead inside a house in the Meerut neighborhood of the Lisari Gate police station.

According to ADGC, Zeenat was married to a man named Mohd Ashraf, who used to work primarily outside. She used to receive frequent visits from her neighbour and friend Afshana. Afshana fell in love with an auto driver named Pravin Kumar, and the two of them desired marriage, but obstacles came from her faith and her family's disapproval.

Afshana hatched a plot to kill Zeenat in her house after watching a TV serial on crime. Afshana used a gas cylinder pipe to set Zeenat on fire when she visited her home one day. 

One day when Zeenat came to her house, Afshana set her on fire with a gas cylinder pipe.

She fled with her lover, believing that everyone would mistake Zeenat's severely burned body for hers.

However, a few weeks later, she was noticed, and the case changed. Zeenat's daughter stated in court that her mother frequently went to "Afshana aunty's house," but one day she failed to come back.