A violent domestic dispute in east Delhi ended with the death of a woman and her husband in separate incidents within hours, police said, adding that the case is being investigated as murder followed by suicide.

Police said the incident occurred on December 25 in Kasturba Nagar, under the jurisdiction of Vivek Vihar police station. The woman, identified as Mahender Kaur, was found dead inside her house, while her husband, Kulwant Singh, later died after jumping in front of a train near Shahdara.

Officers were alerted around 3 pm after a neighbour reported a woman lying motionless inside the residence. A police team reached the spot and found Mahender Kaur’s body placed on a cot and covered with a shawl. At that time, her husband was not present at the house.

Initial statements from the couple’s 21-year-old son, Shiv Charan, suggested suicide. He told police he had gone out to buy cigarettes and returned to find his mother hanging from a ceiling fan. However, police said his account changed multiple times, raising suspicion.

A post-mortem examination later revealed ligature marks on the woman’s neck, and doctors confirmed that she had been strangled. “Post-mortem findings confirmed death due to strangulation. Prima facie, it appears that the husband strangled his wife following a quarrel and later died by suicide,” the officer said.

Investigators subsequently pieced together events leading up to the crime. Police said Kulwant Singh had an argument with his wife after asking her for Rs 20, allegedly to buy cigarettes. When she initially refused, the disagreement escalated. After she later gave him the money, he reportedly sent their son out to make the purchase and then strangled her inside the house.

During the inquiry, police also received information that Kulwant had been seen near nearby railway tracks. “During the enquiry, we learnt that the woman’s husband was also missing. A few neighbours told the personnel that they had spotted the husband around the nearby railway tracks. On reaching the area, the man was found dead near the tracks. Some eyewitnesses told police that the man had jumped in front of a moving train,” an officer aware of the investigation said.

Another police officer said that when officers attempted to approach him, Kulwant tried to evade them. “In order to avoid arrest, he jumped in front of a moving train. He was rushed to the hospital, where he was declared dead,” a police officer said.

Police noted that neighbours had moved the woman’s body from the terrace to the ground floor before officers arrived, complicating the early assessment of the scene.

Kulwant Singh worked as an auto-rickshaw driver and also took up daily wage work at events, while Mahender Kaur was a homemaker. The family, police said, had been facing financial difficulties. The couple is survived by two sons and a daughter.

A case has been registered, and further investigation is underway.