A medical surgeon killed his wife then kept her Facebook page updated for the next seven months in a ploy to fool her relatives and friends that she was still alive, according to the police in Gorakhpur, India.

The victim, Rakhi Srivastava, had been married to Dr Dharmendra Pratap Singh. The pair split up and Rakhi remarried. Months after her second marriage, Rakhi went missing.

The police considered Rakhi’s second husband as the initial suspect but released him after they found Rakhi’s phone a few months ago, in October. A police source told the press that, “This made Dr Singh a prime suspect.”

Last Friday, the police detained Dr Singh and two alleged associates, Pramod Kumar Singh and Deshdeepak Nishad. It was reported that Rakhi was killed after she was pushed off a cliff after being sedated.

The police source added: “However, even after killing Rakhi, they kept updating her social media account through her mobile phone.”

Police investigations are ongoing.