Already serving life sentences for the rape and murder of an MBA student in 2010 and a 40-year-old woman in Maloya in 2022, serial killer cabbie Monu Kumar, 40, has been found guilty in a third case – the rape and murder of a 60-year-old woman whose body was found in a forested area near a government school in Sector 54 in February 2024.
A special fast-track court on Monday held Kumar guilty under Sections 302 (murder) and 376-E (punishment for repeat offenders) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The quantum of the sentence will be pronounced on Tuesday.
Woman had gone missing from Mohali home
According to the prosecution, the 60-year-old victim, a native of Uttar Pradesh, had come to the city just two months before the incident. She had also been unwell for around 10-15 days.
On February 27, 2024, her husband returned home from work around 6.30 pm and found her missing from their Mohali house. After failing to trace her, he lodged a daily diary report (DDR) at a police station in Mohali the next morning.
On February 28, he was informed that a woman’s body had been found near a government school in Sector 54. He reached the spot and identified the deceased as his wife.
During the investigation, police found that Kumar, who was already in custody in connection with another rape-murder case, had allegedly confessed to killing the woman and stealing her silver anklet. Police subsequently sent DNA samples from the spot to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) which were later confirmed to have matched with Kumar.
{{/usCountry}}During the investigation, police found that Kumar, who was already in custody in connection with another rape-murder case, had allegedly confessed to killing the woman and stealing her silver anklet. Police subsequently sent DNA samples from the spot to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) which were later confirmed to have matched with Kumar.
{{/usCountry}}Kumar pleaded not guilty and claimed trial. His counsel argued that he had been falsely implicated, while the prosecution maintained that the evidence established his guilt.
First case: MBA student killed in 2010
Kumar’s first known crime dates to July 30, 2010, when a 21-year-old MBA student was raped and murdered in Sector 38 West.
She was sitting on her scooter and talking on the phone when Kumar had attacked her with a heavy stone, dragged her into nearby bushes, raped and murdered her. The case remained unsolved for years, and police had earlier filed an untraced report.
The breakthrough came after Kumar was arrested in connection with the 2022 Maloya rape-murder case. DNA evidence preserved from the 2010 crime scene was subsequently matched with Kumar’s DNA, linking him to the MBA student’s killing.
A local court sentenced Kumar to life imprisonment in the case in November 2025 and imposed a ₹1 lakh fine.
The Maloya case
Kumar’s second rape-murder case involved a 40-year-old woman from Maloya whose body was found in the bushes near her home on January 12, 2022. The woman was allegedly raped and murdered the night before. The investigation eventually led police to Kumar.
On August 21, 2026, a special fast-track court sentenced Kumar to life imprisonment in the 2022 case. He was also fined ₹7 lakh under Section 302 and ₹50,000 under Section 376-E. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
The court observed that the crime was brutal but did not fall within the “rarest of rare” category warranting the death penalty.