Woman’s body in suitcase: Bathinda man held, tattooed victim’s face on chest

35-year-old accused stabbed friend, kept corpse at home for two days and attempted to burn it before dumping remains.

Two days after a woman’s semi-burnt body was found stuffed inside a suitcase on the outskirts of Bathinda, the district police on Friday arrested her friend, Prince Kumar, for the murder.

The 35-year-old murder accused, Prince Kumar, in police custody in Bathinda on Friday. (Sanjeev Kumar/HT)

The victim, identified as Sapna alias Malika, a native of Baghapurana in Moga district, had been residing in Bathinda. The accused, a 35-year-old unemployed man reportedly struggling with substance abuse, allegedly stabbed her to death in the early hours of February 9 at his house in the Surkhpeer area.

Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) Jyoti Yadav Bains termed the incident a “crime of passion.”

According to the police, Prince kept the body at his house for two days and attempted to burn the corpse before stuffing it into a suitcase. On the intervening night of February 10-11, he allegedly dumped the remains in the fields near Behman Diwana village on the Bathinda-Fazilka national highway.

Investigators have recovered the suitcase, the knife used in the crime, and the car used to transport the body. While the motive is still being officially ascertained, the SSP said that Prince was living alone and was the sole person involved in the crime. The police revealed that after the murder, Prince got a photograph of himself with Sapna tattooed on his chest.

The victim’s personal life was marked by tragedy; the SSP said that Sapna had married against her parents’ wishes and was living independently of both her husband and the accused at the time of her death. Her family has so far not come forward to claim the body. While sources indicated the body bore four to five deep stab wounds, the police declined further comment on her personal history to protect her privacy.