A newlywed man and his brother were killed after a home theatre music system exploded in their home in India’s Chhattisgarh state. The home music theater system was a gift from the bride’s ex-lover.
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Hemendra Merawi,25, was instantly killed after plugging in the music system, and his brother, Rajkumar,30, was severely injured during the explosion on March 30. He later died from his injuries, and four other members of the family, including an 18-month-old child, were injured. Merawi’s bride was not injured in the explosion since she was still at her parent’s home, as it is customary for the bride to stay with her family for a few days after the wedding.
Police arrested 33-year-old Sarju Markam on Monday, and investigators said he gifted the couple a rigged home music theatre system so he could kill them for getting married. Markam is a married man with two sons, and he wanted to marry the 29-year-old bride so she could be his second wife. However, she ended the relationship once she learned he was with someone else.
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Authorities said the blast was so strong that it caused the roof and walls of the couple’s home to come down.
“Markam had initially lied to Merawi’s wife that he was not married. After she realized the truth, she refused to marry him. But he kept threatening her to marry him.”
Before Merawi married Markam’s ex, the two had a previous encounter where Markam threatened him, leading to an altercation.
Investigators said Markam used to work at a stone crusher site where he learned how to assemble explosives, as reported by Indian Express. Before quitting the job, it is believed he stole ammunition nitrate and used it to rig the home music theatre system. He also used gunpowder extracted from firecrackers, petrol, and other explosive materials.
He asked a friend to help him deliver the wedding gift on a motorbike, but the friend told the police he didn’t have any idea about the plan. He said Markam ran in and out of the wedding venue and placed the gift under other gifts.
Markam eventually confessed to the crime out of guilt: “The accused told the police that he had planted the explosive in the home theater and gifted it to the married couple in a bid to kill them. He used ammonium nitrate, petrol, and gunpowder retrieved from firecrackers… The blast got triggered when the system was switched on.”
He was booked on charges of murder, attempted murder, and other crimes under India’s Explosives Substances Act.
The Explosives Substances Act is an Indian law that was first enacted in 1908 and subsequently amended several times. The act aims to regulate the manufacture, possession, use, sale, transportation, import, and export of explosives and explosive substances in India.
Under the act, it is illegal to manufacture, possess, use, sell, transport, import, or export any explosive substance without obtaining the necessary license or permission from the appropriate authorities.