Husband, ex-husband murder wife in Bijnor, skeleton found 17 months later

The matter surfaced after Ashifa’s mother, Asma, filed a missing person complaint on March 25, 2025, at the Heempur Deepa police station and named Kamil, Adil, and seven others in the disappearance.

A murder case that had remained buried for nearly a year and a half surfaced in Bijnor’s Chandpur area after police recovered the skeletal remains of a woman who went missing under suspicious circumstances in late 2023. The victim, Ashifa, was killed by her former husband, Kamil, and his elder brother, Adil, whom she had later married, police said.

Ashifa was initially married to Kamil but later divorced him and married his elder brother Adil. (Sourced)

The matter surfaced after Ashifa’s mother, Asma, filed a missing person complaint on March 25, 2025, at the Heempur Deepa police station and named Kamil, Adil, and seven others in the disappearance. A resident of Sabdalpur village, Asma told police that she had tried calling her daughter several times over the past one and a half years.

However, her calls were either unanswered or received by Adil, who allegedly gave different excuses each time — saying Ashifa was unwell, out of station, or busy. These repeated responses raised suspicion and led her to believe something was wrong.

According to police, Ashifa was initially married to Kamil but later divorced him and married his elder brother Adil. In November 2023, she went missing. Following the complaint, police arrested both Kamil and Adil. During interrogation, they allegedly confessed to strangling Ashifa to death and burying her body near a garbage dump along the Naiwala–Hallupura road. The two also claimed their aunt Chandni helped in the act.

Additional superintendent of police Vijay Kumar Singh said human remains—now reduced to a skeleton—were recovered from the site based on their confession and are now being examined. “The accused confessed murdering due to Adil’s fear that Ashifa might harm him. This suspicion drove the planning and execution of the murder,” Bajpai said.

According to the ASP, the murder was driven by Adil’s growing mistrust towards Ashifa. Although the two were married, Adil believed she might be plotting against him and feared she could get him killed with the help of someone else. Acting on these suspicions, he allegedly planned the murder with his brother Kamil and their aunt Chandni, the police said.

The police said further investigation is ongoing, and more arrests may follow if additional suspects are found to be involved.