New Delhi: Neelesh’s family was joyfully preparing for her wedding just five months away. On the afternoon of May 28, she left her Trilokpuri home, telling her 75-year-old father, Ahivaran Singh, that she was going to the bank to complete KYC formalities and withdraw money for the wedding. She never returned home.Neelesh was living with her family in a rented second-floor flat in Trilokpuri for the past one and a half years. Her kin said she had previously battled a serious kidney ailment and had survived after a long and difficult recovery.On Saturday, her three sisters-in-law gathered in the small one-room home, mourning her death. They claimed that on the day of the crime, when Neelesh didn’t return home, the family began searching for her. Her father contacted relatives to see if she had visited them, but no one had seen her. After waiting for some time, he filed a missing person complaint at the local police station.“Her roka (engagement) ceremony was over and she was excited about the upcoming wedding, which was to be held in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh. She often asked about the preparations,” revealed Sunita, one of her sisters-in-law.Alongside her graduation studies, Neelesh was pursuing a beautician’s course. Her three brothers live in east and southeast Delhi.However, the family claimed they had never heard of Neelesh’s murderer, Satendra Yadav, who claimed to police he was in a relationship with her. “Neelesh never spoke about him. We have no idea how they came into contact with each other. He must be a manipulative man. We only learned of his existence after her murder,” said her sisters-in-law.Yadav lived on the ground floor of a one-room set in West Vinod Nagar in east Delhi. Inside, a mattress lay on the floor near a table fan, with an oil bottle and a few clothes hanging on the back of the door. Jasdeep Singh, the building owner, said Yadav rented the room just a month ago, claiming that he would soon bring his wife from his village after the marriage.“He said he worked at a construction company in Gurgaon and often came home late, so he requested an extra key,” Singh recounted. “After the incident, we noticed his room was open, the fan was running and the gate was unlocked. At first, we assumed he had stepped out for food, but when he didn’t return, I called him and found his phone switched off.”A few days later, police arrived at the house and informed Singh of the murder. They also seized a rope from the room. “We never saw any woman with him. He rarely stayed at the rented room and mentioned that he often stayed with friends nearby,” the house owner added.Most residents said they knew little about Yadav. One tenant of the house recalled, “I just moved in, and the very next day, police showed up with him in custody. I was shocked to learn what happened,” she said.
