Man confesses on live TV to killing his girlfriend before being arrested in studio

He wanted ‘publicity and sympathy’, police say

A man has been arrested after admitting on Indian live television that he had murdered his girlfriend, according to local media.

Maninder Singh reportedly walked into the News18 office and said he wanted to “confess”.

He then told reporters live on air that he had killed Sarabjit Kaur because he thought she had cheated on him, according to the broadcaster.

Police arrived at the studio in Chandigarh, a city in the northern Pubjab region, and arrested Mr Singh while he was still sitting in his interview chair.

Kaur, a 27-year-old nurse, was found dead on New Years Day with a slit throat in a hotel room that Mr Singh and her had checked into a few days before, local media said.

The suspect had reportedly been on the run until he turned up at the news studio and confessed to murder.

He told News18 that he was planning on marrying Kaur, despite her family objecting over his lower caste.

Pubjab police told the BBC that Mr Singh was suspected of killing another woman in a neighbouring region and had been released on bail.

Neha Yadav, a local police officer, claimed he wanted a TV confession for Kaur’s murder to get “publicity and sympathy”.

“[He] also hoped that some lawyer would take up his case as he had no money to engage a lawyer,” the official told the BBC.

A brutal gang rape and murder sparked outcry in the country towards the end of last year, with protesters taking to the streets to demand an end to violence against women.