Cops Arrest Ex-Husband of Stepmom Charged With Murder of 9-Year-Old Girl

The ex-husband is accused of obstructing justice

The ex-husband of a woman accused of strangling her 9-year-old stepdaughter is being charged with obstructing police in their effort to arrest the accused killer.

NYPD detectives searching for the stepmother, 55-year-old Shamdai Arjun, after the girl's body was found Friday, located her at the residence of her former husband in the South Ozone Park section of Queens.

The ex-husband, Raymond Narayan, 65, refused to allow police to enter his home and Arjun refused exit the house, police said. About an hour later, Narayan opened the door and he and Arjun emerged.

Earlier in the day, at about 5:30 p.m., the couple were seen leaving the Richmond Hill home where Arjun lived with her stepdaughter, Ashdeep Kaur, and her father, investigators said.

As they were leaving, they were asked about the whereabouts of Ashdeep by another resident of the house and told the girl was in the bathroom.

The resident noticed that the bathroom light had been on for several hours and called the girl's father, who instructed him to break through the locked bathroom door.

Ashdeep's body was found in the bathtub.

The Medical Examiner's Office determined that death was caused by strangulation.

Arjun is charged with second-degree murder and faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted, said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Narayan is charged with obstruction of government administration and faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, if convicted, Brown said.

“This is a horrifying case of a child, a defenseless nine-year-old, who was left in the care of her stepmother who allegedly strangled her to death," Brown said. "Her actions, if true, are beyond comprehension and must be severely punished.”

Arjun was arraigned on the murder charge Sunday and ordered held without bail. A request for comment was left in a telephone message for her attorney, Judah Maltz.

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