On Tuesday, April 4, police in India apprehended a man after a music system he gave to his ex-girlfriend as a wedding present exploded, killing her spouse and brother-in-law and injuring four other people, including a toddler.
The 22-year-old newlywed man, Hemendra Merawi, was examining presents with his brother, on April 3, a few days after his wedding in Chhattisgarh, when the music system exploded.
According to local police, the home theater system was a gift from his wife’s ex-partner, Sarju Markam, 33, who had outfitted the system with explosives and put it with other presents at the wedding held on March 31.
Police Superintendent Lal Umed Singh revealed that the music system was rigged with a bomb made from petrol, ammonium nitrate, and gunpowder from firecrackers. Markam was arrested under the country’s Explosive Substances Act, which could see him sentenced to life in prison.
The blast’s force collapsed the house’s walls and roof, killing Merawi on the spot and leaving his brother severely injured. Merawi’s brother succumbed to his injuries while in the hospital.
Markam confessed to planting the explosives in the gift because he was angry at his ex-girlfriend for marrying someone else. They had dated since 2020, but the bride broke up with Markam when she discovered he was already married with two children.
Police Superintendent Manisha Thakur told reporters that the bride refused to marry Markam after she realized the truth, but he kept threatening her. She said that Markam had threatened Merawi twice before the wedding.
Police have ruled out any connection between Markam and the Naxal, a communist separatist group involved in a long-standing struggle against the government in Chhattisgarh. The group is responsible for most of the bombings in Chhattisgarh.
The fatal explosion is part of a rising trend of violence against women by spurned lovers in India that the authorities call “jilted lover syndrome.” Crimes against women in India increased by 15.3% in 2021, with the majority committed by intimate male partners.
