Techie kills ex-wife in front of daughter, dies in car crash

Pune/Aurangabad, Nov 14: A Pune based software engineer died in a road accident early Saturday morning, hours after he allegedly murdered his divorced wife at her father's residence in Aurangabad.

Manoj Madhukar Garule (35), a resident of Sangvi, near Jagtap chowk, Pune, fled in his car after stabbing his ex-wife, Ashwini, in front of their eight-year-old daughter on Friday evening, the Aurangabad police said.

Garule was fleeing in his car towards Nashik at a very high speed and lost control over the vehicle while taking a turn. He was thrown out of the car, which somersaulted before landing in a farm along the road, the police said.

The police, who took Garule to the Government Medical College and Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, soon realised that he was the man they were looking for. A blood-stained knife was recovered from his car.

Pune was rocked by a similar murder about four months ago. In July , 40-yea rold software engineer Manoj Patidar, working with a Hinjewadi-based IT major, shot his wife Anjali dead with a country-made pistol at her clinic on Wakad road, close to their rented accommodation. He was arrested within hours of the murder.

The Aurangabad police said Garule's second wife is in Nashik -her hometown -to celebrate Diwali and that payment of alimony to the divorced wife could be the motive for the murder.

Inspector Manish Kalyankar of the Aurangabad police said, "The couple got married in 2006, but Manoj started demanding dowry, following which Ashwini's father, Vishnu K Shinde, gave Rs 1.5 lakh to him for purchasing a flat. However, his dowry demands increased."

Shinde has stated in his complaint that after he failed to fulfill the frequent demands for dowry, Garule started harassing and torturing his daughter physically and mentally. Finally, Ashwini, along with her daughter, moved to her father's residence in Aurangabad and filed a case of domestic violence, followed by a suit for separation. The Aurangabad court ruled in favour of Ashwini and ordered Garule to pay an alimony of Rs 20,000 per month in 2012. "However, he gave only up to Rs 55, 000 intially and later defaulted on the payment."

"Manoj was working in a leading software company in Tathawade in Pune and was earning about Rs 1.50 lakh per month. He had done his graduation in BE (computers) from an engineering college in Nashik. He had moved to Pune in early 2006 for better prospects," Kalyankar said.

After the divorce, Garule married a widow and both were staying in Pune, he said.

Giving further details of the case, Kalyankar said that Ashwini and her daughter went to a mall and had some food there before returning home. Her parents have gone to Nashik. "After hearing Ashwini's daughter scream for help, her neighbours came and took her to a nearby hospital, where she was declared on arrival.

Manoj's father, Madhukar Garule (58) of Sinnar taluka in Nashik district, said in his statement to the Aurangabad police that he had two sons -Manoj and Amol. Amol died in an accident in 2010, he said.