In an incident on the intervening night of July 6 and July 7, 2025, Saba allegedly murdered her husband, Mohammad Mumtaz, an engineer, by slitting his throat while he slept at their residence in India. Investigators revealed that Saba, who possesses IT knowledge and was preparing for the UPSC examination, tracked her husband's phone via a mobile application, leading her to suspect he was having an extramarital affair. She also alleged domestic abuse and harassment by Mumtaz, a claim corroborated by their three children. Fearing that her husband might harm or kill her, Saba staged a burglary by cutting the main gate lock, disabling the household CCTV cameras, and removing the DVR past 1:23 AM. She then attacked Mumtaz with a knife, inflicting fatal injuries to his neck and body. In the morning, she reported a fake dacoity to the police, claiming intruders held her hostage and killed her husband. However, police detected severe contradictions in her statements and during interrogation, Saba confessed to the crime. Based on her directions, police recovered the murder weapon, the gate cutter, Mumtaz's phone from a railway track drain, and the CCTV DVR from nearby bushes.
Country: India
State/Province: None
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Incident Type: Domestic Violence Homicide
Relationship Status: Married
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Incident Date: July 7, 2025
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2025-07-07
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Crime Tak - India
Domestic Violence
The case illustrates a classic escalation pattern of chronic domestic conflict compounded by suspected infidelity and technological surveillance. Saba utilized digital monitoring tools to track her husband's communications, confirming her suspicion of an extramarital relationship, while simultaneously enduring reported physical harassment. Rather than seeking legal separation or police intervention, she reacted out of fear, anger, and preemptive self-defense logic, meticulously staging a burglary to eliminate her spouse while he slept.
Police initially received a report of a violent dacoity and theft. Upon inspecting the scene, officers noted scattered belongings, an open almirah, and the victim's body under the bed with severe knife wounds. Investigators identified multiple contradictions in Saba's initial claims, as well as a two-day delay in filing the formal FIR. Scientific investigation involving CDR review, forensic fingerprint lifting, and targeted interrogation led to Saba's confession and the subsequent recovery of key physical evidence, including the knife, lock cutter, laptop, victim's phone, and CCTV DVR.
Initial confusion arose because the crime scene was intentionally staged to look like a home invasion by dacoits, complete with a pre-cut gate lock hanging at the entrance, scattered wardrobe items, and disconnected CCTV equipment. Furthermore, Saba falsely claimed to police that armed intruders had held her hostage at knifepoint before murdering her husband and looting cash and gold.
Saba planned the murder in advance by pre-cutting the main gate lock with a cutter to simulate forced entry. On the night of July 6–7, 2025, around 1:23 AM, she severed the power line to the home CCTV system and hid the DVR. Shortly after 1:30 AM, she entered Mumtaz's bedroom as he slept, slitting his throat and stabbing him repeatedly until he died. She then scattered room belongings, hid Mumtaz's phone in a railway drain, tossed the DVR into nearby bushes, and alerted police in the morning claiming dacoit involvement. Forensic analysis and persistent police questioning broken down her cover story.
High-risk indicators included unreported physical domestic violence within the home, severe marital discord confirmed by the couple's children, and obsessive digital tracking. The presence of a motivational note written by Saba on the children's bedroom wall ('I accept defeat, but I will play a big game') served as a subtle psychological indicator of pre-meditated drastic action that went unrecognized by family members prior to the crime.
Digital surveillance apps can intensify psychological fixation and panic in high-conflict, abusive marriages. Staging techniques such as fake lock cutting and CCTV disabling are often exposed through meticulous forensic scene inspection, timeline analysis of digital evidence (DVR logs), and contradictory witness statements during police interrogation.
Persistent marital conflict, physical abuse acknowledged by the children, Saba's secret digital tracking of her husband's phone, and a enigmatic motivational quote posted on the wall were early warning signals of acute relational strain.
Contradictions in Saba's changing statements, a two-day delay in lodging the FIR, and CCTV DVR logs showing abrupt power termination at 1:23 AM served as primary clues redirecting police focus onto Saba.
Key scientific and physical evidence recovered includes the bloodied knife, lock cutter, laptop, victim's mobile phone recovered from a railway drain, CCTV DVR retrieved from bushes, and forensic fingerprints collected from the crime scene.
The couple's three children confirmed to police that their father frequently beat and harassed their mother, corroborating Saba's allegations of domestic abuse.
Initial reports described a violent robbery by unidentified dacoits who broke into the home, killed the victim, and looted valuables. Follow-up police investigations disproved the burglary narrative, identifying Saba as the sole perpetrator acting alone.
The precise identity of the third party involved in Mumtaz's alleged extramarital affair remains unstated in official police communications, though police confirmed no accomplice assisted Saba in executing the murder.