Goa Hotel Manager Tries To Pass Off Wife's Murder As Accident, Was Caught When...

The manager of a luxury hotel in South Goa has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife. The accused, identified as Gaurav Katiyar, drowned his wife in the sea at Cabo de Rama Beach in Goa after she confronted him over his alleged extramarital affair, police said.

Katiyar (29), who works as a manager at a luxury hotel operated by Marriott International in South Goa’s Colva, tried to project the death of his wife Diksha Gangwar (27) as an accident.

However, he was caught on Saturday after a video shot by a bystander exposed his claims.

According to police, both Gaurav and Diksha hail from Lucknow. They got married a year ago, but their relationship remained strained.

“The incident occurred at around 3.45 pm on Friday after Katiyar took his wife for a stroll on the beach, located not far from his workplace,” the official said.

He took her to a rocky area of the beach and drowned her in the sea.

Some tourists, who saw the couple venturing into the sea, raised alarm when they saw Gaurav coming back to the beach alone.

After being confronted, Katiyar created commotion and tried to pass off the crime as an accident.

Police also found Gangwar’s body near the popular beach on Friday afternoon.

“Injury marks were found on her body,” the official added.

According to the official, a video shot by a local exposed Katiyar’s claims.

The video clip shows Katiyar coming out of the beach and returning again–apparently to ensure whether his wife has really died– before raising alarm to create the entire drama, he added.

The police said the initial investigation revealed the accused killed his wife over his own extramarital affair.

“But we need to get all the information together so that a strong chargesheet can be filed against the accused,” the official said.

Probe Points To Homicide

During prima facie, the forensic department found the woman died due to drowning in the shallow sand waters, which are cases of homicide and not suicide or accident, an official said on Sunday.

Most of the time, deaths due to drowning in the shallow sand waters are cases of murder as no one can die in such low-depth waters due to drowning unless forced to, he said.

The official said the deaths in the shallow sand waters are cases of “homicide and not suicide or accident”.

The postmortem on the woman’s body would be conducted on Monday, the official said.

He said the medical examination of the accused conducted on Saturday showed injury marks due to scratching on his chest.

“There are marks on the chest, usually when there is a scuffle. There is a possibility that the deceased tried to save her and in the process scratched the chest of the accused,” he said.

Prima facie, Katiyar killed Gangwar, whom he married a year ago, over his extramarital affair, an official earlier said adding that injury marks were found on the body.

Meanwhile, a Judicial Magistrate First Class at Margao remanded the accused to police custody for five days.

The Cuncolim police have also registered a case on charges of murder and destruction of evidence against Katiyar.

“We want to gather more evidence against the accused,” the officer said.