In a horrifying incident, a 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled his live-in partner to death and chopped her body into 40-50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand's Khunti district.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The gruesome murder came to light nearly a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman from the same district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh, who led the investigation, said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
"He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40-50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangled her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," the police officer said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the victim's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being arrested by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, drawing parallels to the 2022 Shraddha Walker murder case, where a live-in partner chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi's Mehrauli.
