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Budgam woman’s murder triggers protests in Valley
The accused, Shabir Ahmad Wani, reportedly killed the woman for rejecting a proposal to marry one of his relatives last year; while her relatives suspect that she was sexually assaulted, police are yet to ascertain the same
A 45-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly killing a 30-year-old woman, chopping her body into multiple pieces and disposing them at different sites in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district last week, police said on Sunday as the incident triggered widespread protests across central Kashmir.
The accused, Shabir Ahmad Wani, reportedly killed the woman for rejecting a proposal to marry one of his relatives last year. While her relatives suspect that she was sexually assaulted, police are yet to ascertain the same.
The victim was engaged and scheduled to get married in August.
The police said both the man and woman lived in Budgam. While Wani is a carpenter, the woman had completed her MA and BEd degrees and was pursuing a computer course at a private institute in the district.
According to a police spokesperson, the incident came to light after the woman’s family filed a missing complaint on March 8, saying she did not return home after leaving for her coaching classes a day earlier. Her mobile phone was switched off.
“During the course of investigation, police rounded up several suspects. They also took Wani into custody for questioning based on the woman’s call records. After sustained questioning, he confessed on Saturday. He said he killed the woman and chopped the body into different pieces before disposing them at different locations. All the body parts have been recovered,” the spokesperson said.
It was not immediately clear where the murder took place.
Budgam SSP Tahir Gilani said the woman’s head was recovered from the accused’s house. “The main body was recovered from Sebdan Bridge. The limbs were recovered from a tank near his house,” he told reporters.
“The probe is at an early stage. I cannot discuss the motive here. We have recovered the weapon of offence which is a knife. The autopsy has been conducted and we have handed over the body parts to the family,” he added.
While police are yet to provide details about the motive behind the crime, woman’s family members claimed the man had approached them with a proposal for her to marry one of his relatives, but she refused.
“There was no apparent grudge. Last year, he (Wani) had come with a proposal for my daughter to marry one of his relatives,” the woman’s mother said.
“The family was ready but the woman refused, so we rejected the proposal later. He appears to have nurtured this grudge. He used to say that ‘I lost my respect’. We had decided to marry her where she wanted,” a cousin of the victim said.
The cousin added that he “suspects the woman was sexually assaulted”.
The woman’s mother said she would go for computer classes daily for an hour at 2pm. “It was nothing different that day (March 7), except that she left early. Who knows what happened later,” she said.
One of the relatives claimed Wani used a cutting machine for the crime.
Eldest of all, the woman has two sisters and a brother. She was engaged and supposed to tie the knot in August, her family said.
“She recently told me she had acquired enough education, but had not learnt computers. She said her fiancé knows about computers and told her to learn as well. I told her that she still had time before the marriage, so she should learn,” an elderly relative said.
Police said an FIR has been registered under Section 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code.
The murder sparked outrage and protests across central Kashmir as local residents demanded capital punishment for the accused. Multiple protests were also held in Budgam.
“We all have daughters who go to schools and colleges. How can we stay calm when we know such people are lurking around. Hang him publicly to set an example,” a protester said, seeking anonymity.
The incident appears to be similar to the Shraddha Walkar murder case in Delhi.
Walkar was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Aaftab Poonawala at their rented accommodation on May 18 last year. The accused, who was later arrested, chopped her body into 35 pieces before dumping them in forested areas in the national capital.
