JHAJJAR: Life is strange.

So is the relationship between a man and woman.

Art and literature have fed on these subjects.

Crime too.

So it isn't strange that in Delhi, two women, who lived 30km of each other in Jhajjar district of Haryana, never ever met but found themselves bound forever in a startling story of love, rejection, marriage and murder.Nikki Yadav was one of the women.

Turning 24 years on March 17, the energetic girl lived in Khatiwas village in Jhajjar.

On Thursday, her home was enveloped in mourning, the men in the family, seated on the floor, solemnly receiving the line of people who arrived to console them.

On a raised platform sat Nikki's grandmother and other relatives.In an inner room was Nikki's mother who had low blood pressure and was lying on the floor covered in a blanket, shielded by her aunts.

Each time Nikki's name was taken, loud sobs broke out.

"Nikki always had a smile on her face and she was always home for festivals.

That is why we were happily anticipating her arrival for Holi in March," said her cousin.

Her aunts said she was meticulous and planned things well, whether it was her higher studies or her career goals.Delhi Police: 'Sahil Gehlot erased all data from Nikki Yadav's cellphone'They spoke of Nikki in the past tense.

For the young woman, who had left the village so she could study and fulfil her aspirations, had faced the horrible fate of being murdered by her live-in partner, Sahil Gehlot.

All because the 24-year-old Sahil decided to spurn her and marry someone else.That someone else was not present in her house at Mandothi village, around 30km from Nikki's house, when TOI reached the place.

According to neighbours, the woman and her mother, a single parent, had left the village and gone to stay at a relative's house in an undisclosed location.

The shock of finding that the man who married her on February 10 had only hours earlier murdered the woman who was pressing him for marriage wasn't the honeymoon joy the young woman had been expecting.CCTV: Is this the last time when Nikki Yadav was seen alive?Though not very well off financially, the mother had used all her savings and the assistance of villagers and relatives to pull off the wedding of her daughter.

A couple of days later, all that remained of the wedding ceremony was a sad, empty house with neighbours on guard, gently shooing away the media people."Whatever happened was not right," declared the conned bride's neighbour.

"She was an only child and after her father's death, her mother put her through college.

She was still studying for competitive exams.

What can we say now?" And with a sad sigh, she added, "We do not wish to say anything more.

Whatever has happened has happened."The girl's shock, as of her kin, must have been tremendous.

As a relative said, Sahil's behaviour on the wedding day was entirely normal.

There was no sign he was a murderer.In just a few hours, the two women's fate became forever linked.

For, as Nikki's younger sister told TOI, she got a call from Nikki at 6.30am on February 10 saying she would be back soon.

She had left with Sahil, who had come to the apartment when the sister was asleep.

"Later, when I tried to call her, I found her phone was switched off," said the sister.

After repeatedly trying Nikki's phone and not getting a response, she managed to get Sahil's number and enquired about her sister to be told that he was not aware of where she was.Nikki Yadav murder: Shocking similarities with Shraddha Walkar caseThree hours later, Sahil had strangled the woman who wanted to be his bride, stashed her body in a fridge at his dhaba and had adorned himself in a groom's finery, ready for the pheras with another unsuspecting bride.Nikki murder Case: Delhi murderer who killed, hid the body, and got married – all in 24 hours