Sahil Gehlot, Nikki Yadav married in temple in 2020; Accused father, 5 others held for complicity in murder

In a startling revelation in the chilling murder of 24-year-old Nikki Yadav by her alleged live-in partner Sahil Gehlot, Delhi police found out that the couple had married in a secret ceremony at an Arya Samaj Mandir in Noida in October 2020.

Police sources told ANI that accused Sahil and Nikki got married in a temple in Noida in October 2020. Sahil's family was unhappy with their marriage. Sahil's family fixed his wedding in Deceember 2022 and hid the fact from the girl's family that Sahil had already married Nikki.

The police have also recovered the marriage certificates of Sahil and Nikki during the remand. Sahil's friend and cousin helped him hide Nikki's body in the fridge, said local news sources.

The Crime Branch arrested five others on Saturday in connection with the Nikki Yadav murder case, including Sahil Gehlot's father Virendra Singh on the charges of helping him in the conspiracy, reported ANI citing Delhi police crime branch. He has been booked u/s 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC.

"Sahil's father Virender Singh has been arrested after police found that he knew that his son had allegedly murdered Nikki. He has been booked u/s 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC. 4 others including friend, cousin and brother of accused Sahil Gehlot arrested," he added.

Sahil Gehlot killed Nikki Yadav in a parking lot

Gehlot allegedly murdered Yadav on February 10 in the parking lot of Delhi's Nigambodh Ghat crematorium. He then drove more than 40 km to his village Mitraon in north-west Delhi. He left the car, with the body in it, at a dhaba owned by his family. He married another woman the same evening -- this match was arranged by his family -- and returned to his eatery late that night to stuff the body into a fridge.

Gehlot was arrested on February 14 by crime branch officials for allegedly killing Yadav hours before marrying another woman. Investigators said that at the time Gehlot and Yadav were in a relationship, and were living together for the past few years.

Live-in relationship turns sour

Sahil Gahlot revealed that he had met the Nikki Yadav in 2018, when he had started preparing for SSC exams at Career Point Coaching Centre at Uttam Nagar. Back then, Yadav was also preparing for a medical entrance examination at Akash Institute in the same area.

The duo used to travel together to Uttam Nagar in the same bus, and they became friends, and later on fell in love. They used to meet before and after the coaching classes.

In February 2018, the accused took admission in D. Pharma in Galgotia College at Greater Noida and she also took admission in the same college in BA (English Hons.). Thereafter, both of them started living together at Greater Noida in a rented house. They became very close to each other and also travelled to several places such as Manali, Haridwar, Rishikesh and Dehradun. However, during Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, they returned to their homes and after the end of the lockdown, they again started living together in a rented house in Dwarka area.

Nikki was putting pressure on him to tie the knot, but his family had found another alliance for him. He got engaged to the girl choose by his family on February 9 and this led to an argument between them.

Police suspect that he wanted to get rid of his live-in-partner and was trying to mislead her by assuring her that they would go for a trip, officials said. "He said he was in double mind. These are all his version because through local enquiries, we came to know that he was dancing and having fun during his engagement. So, it is important to corroborate his version with strong evidence including CCTVs, technical evidence along with forensic examination to make this a strong case. The exact time when he killed her has not been revealed by him yet," the officer said.

Yadav's body was recovered on Tuesday morning from the refrigerator at the eatery, four days after the murder.