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Police say Assam man accused of beheading wife died after jumping off vehicle
Goswami’s family refused to accept his body, claiming this was not an accidental death but a so-called “encounter” killing
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A 30-year-old Guwahati man arrested for beheading his wife and storing her severed head in a refrigerator died after allegedly attacking the Assam Police personnel accompanying him from a hospital following medical examinations, jumping off a moving vehicle, and falling into a gorge, an officer said on Monday.
Anjad Brahma, the officer-in-charge of the Hatigaon Police Station where Ramanuj Goswami was being taken, said that the incident happened in the early hours of Monday and the body has been sent for postmortem.
A second officer said Goswami suddenly attacked the police team escorting him back to the police station. “He jumped from the vehicle and fell into a gorge near the Narakashur Pahar area.” He added that Goswami was rescued with injuries and was taken to hospital, where the doctors declared him dead.
Records showed Goswami was brought to the hospital at 2:41am and declared dead on arrival. Doctors said he had severe head injuries. His seven-day police remand was to end on Monday, and the police were to produce him before the court.
Goswami’s family refused to accept the body, claiming this was not an accidental death but a so-called “encounter” killing. It said they were preparing for post-death rituals of Goswami’s wife, Riya Talukdar, but cancelled them after the report of Goswami’s death. The family said these rituals according to Hindu customs cannot be continued after his death.
Goswami allegedly beheaded Talukdar, 25, on September 3 at a Guwahati flat for allegedly cheating on him. Neighbours reported a foul odour, leading police to recover the severed head and fingers inside a black polythene bag in the refrigerator.
Goswami, who had fled, surrendered on September 6 and was sent into seven-day police remand. He said he had no regret for killing his wife when he was taken to the crime scene on September 8. “No regret, no apology. I killed her with a sharp weapon, and I will kill her sugar daddy if I ever come out of jail.”
Police said they recovered a blood-stained machete, the suspected weapon used in the murder. Goswami told police he was intoxicated when he killed his wife, and empty alcohol bottles were recovered from the apartment.
Talukdar family said that Goswami had a history of drug addiction, concealed medical issues, and a prior arrest for financial fraud in 2019.
Goswami’s death in custody is the latest in a series of such deaths in the state. A death in police custody is treated as a custodial death regardless of the cause, whether it is an escape attempt or of natural causes, warranting a magisterial inquiry.
In 2025, the Supreme Court directed the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to investigate a series of alleged extrajudicial killings in the northeastern state, saying the use of excessive or illegal force cannot be justified. It overturned a January 2022 AHRC decision to close a case on the alleged extrajudicial killings, citing a pending plea on the issue in the Gauhati high court.
The Supreme Court directed the commission to reconsider the matter and conduct the probe, including allegations of injuries from illegal police action, popularly known as encounters. It asked the AHRC to approach the matter with sensitivity and the Assam government to cooperate fully and remove any institutional barriers.
Lawyer Arif Jwadder moved the Supreme Court over the alleged extrajudicial killings after the high court rejected his plea seeking action. His plea alleged 171 fake “encounters” between May 2021, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power for a second time, and August 2022.
In January 2023, the high court said people were killed and injured in police action, but the state government had registered first information reports to probe them. Jwadder’s petition said 54 people were killed and 140 injured in police action.
