Newlywed dies after explosive-laden stereo gift from wife’s ex-lover

According to police, Merawi’s wife was romantically involved with Sarju Markam, a 33-year-old auto mechanic, prior to the couple’s marriage.

The aggrieved jilted lover became enraged after Merawi came into the picture and allegedly devised a plan to get revenge after Merawi and his wife announced their intentions to wed

Merawi and his wife’s families arranged the marriage, and Markam tried to convince his ex-lover not to go through with the wedding.

According to The Indian Express, a day before the wedding Markam called his ex-lover and stated, “You are getting married but you will never be happy”, then threatened Merawi afterward.

“They had an altercation. Hemendra also had a talk with his fiancé and the issue was settled,” explained police superintendent, Lal Umed Singh.

It was after these inflammatory calls that Markam made plans to create a bomb. He reportedly had prior knowledge of explosives from his previous job at a stone-crushing plant.

He hid the bomb inside a home stereo system and wrapped it up as a wedding gift for the new couple.

Police said Markam had a friend give him a ride to the venue, where he sneaked inside and hid the box beneath the piles of other gifts.

A few days after the wedding, Merawi and his brother plugged the stereo in and turned it on, triggering the explosion. The impact of the blast was strong enough to blow the roof off the house and collapsed the walls.

Unfortunately, Merawi was killed immediately, and his brother later died at the hospital. The blast also injured four others including a child.

However, Merawi’s wife was at her parent’s home at the time of the explosion.