Experts fear ‘new era of cruelty’

New Delhi: In a series of chilling crimes that have stunned the nation, a disturbing pattern has emerged. The initial shock came with the high-profile case of Shraddha Walkar’s murder by Aftab Poonawala, which sent shockwaves across the country. However, as subsequent investigations unfolded, a horrifying trend of chopping the body after killing began to take shape.

More cases of a similar nature were unearthed, leaving authorities and the public grappling with the question of whether this was a mere coincidence or the harrowing start of a new murder trend in the country.In November last year, Aftab was arrested for killing and chopping the body of his live-in partner Shraddha Walkar in Delhi’s Chattarpur area. Aftab was in a relationship with Shraddha since 2018 but he strangled her after a fight between them on May 18. He then chopped her body into several pieces and disposed off the parts in various locations before being arrested six months after the crime.

The duo had been in a live-in relationship since 2019 and had moved to Delhi on May 8. They stayed in a hotel at Paharganj for seven days and then shifted to a rented house on May 15, just three days before Shraddha was murdered.

In a grim sequence of events, reminiscent of the heinous crime committed by Aftab, a mere 12 days later, another horrifying incident unfolded in Pandav Nagar, east Delhi. In this case, a man fell victim to the cruelty of his wife and her son from a previous marriage. The perpetrators allegedly drugged the man, stabbed him, and slit his throat.The following day, the body was dismembered into more than 22 pieces, which were callously stored in a refrigerator. Over the course of several days, the body parts were gradually dumped at various locations, according to the police.The Delhi Police’s crime branch made a significant breakthrough, solving the mystery surrounding the scattered body parts found at a dumping ground in Pandav Nagar in June of 2022.

The police announced the arrest of Poonam (48) and her son, Deepak (25), in connection with the gruesome crime. Special Commissioner (Crime) Ravindra Singh Yadav revealed that the recovered body parts belonged to Poonam’s 52-year-old husband, Anjan Das.

Yet another case recently unfolded in the Lalbaug area of Mumbai. The accused, a 23-year-old woman named Rimple Jain, was apprehended by the Kalachowki police for the gruesome murder of her own mother, 55-year-old Veena Prakash Jain. Rimple’s actions were unspeakably horrifying, as she not only took her mother’s life but also dismembered her body.To conceal her heinous act, she hid the limbs in a water drum in the bathroom, while the torso was stashed away in a cupboard. Relying on spray perfumes and room fresheners, she tried to eliminate the putrid smell that would betray her crime, while the remains remained concealed for months.

In yet another bone-chilling incident, which took place in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, during the early days of March 2023, the public was left shocked. Pawan Singh, driven by suspicion over his wife Sati Sahu’s alleged extramarital affair, committed an act of unspeakable violence.Employing a tile cutter, he mutilated his wife’s body and disposed off the remains in a water tank, hoping to bury the truth of his crime. However, fate intervened, and the police indirectly stumbled upon the horrifying evidence, unraveling the dark secret.

A similar tale of horror unfolded in the Budgam district of central Kashmir when a man named Shabir Ahmad Wani murdered a young girl who had previously rejected his marriage proposal. Fuelled by rage and rejection, he chopped her body into pieces, leaving the community in shock.

These incidents, while horrifying, are merely a glimpse into a disturbing trend that has instilled terror and fear among the populace.Observers who have closely followed such cases since the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 have dubbed it the “body chopping trend.” The widespread use of this term is indicative of the chilling impact these cases have had on the collective psyche of the public.As the nation grapples with these unprecedented acts of violence, many are left wondering whether this terrifying spree of murders will ever cease or if it is merely the prologue to an even darker era of cruelty.

The search for answers continues, as citizens, law enforcement agencies, and authorities are confronted with an urgent need to address this escalating crisis and ensure the safety and security of the people