BHOPAL: A 25-year-old woman found dead in the Pench river in Chhindwara was strangled by her husband during a car journey and her body dumped to cover up the crime, police said on Thursday, adding that the couple’s two-year-old child was present in the vehicle when the crime was committed.The accused, 28-year-old Akshay Chaurapagar, allegedly killed his wife Pranita while the couple was travelling from Murtijapur towards Nagpur on March 23. Police investigations revealed that after the murder, he continued driving with the body, unable to decide his next move, before eventually returning towards Chhindwara and dumping it from a bridge.The couple’s two-yearold child was present in the car throughout the crime. Police said the child remained asleep for most of the journey and was too young to comprehend what happened.The body was discovered on March 24 under the Pench river bridge in the Singodi outpost area.Singori police outpost incharge, Pankaj Rai, told TOI , “We received information regarding an unidentified body in Pench river on March 24, our teams went there and a case of unnatural death was registered. Pictures of the body were circulated in nearby police stations. There was a tattoo on the wrist of the woman where the name ‘Pranita’’ was written.”





