Ranchi, 28 Nov

A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into several pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said. The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, has been arrested.

The matter came to light almost a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station area on 24 November.

Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman from the same district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.

"The brutal incident occurred on 8 November when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti SP Aman Kumar told PTI on Wednesday.

Inspector Ashok Singh, who investigated the case, said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was an expert in slicing chicken. “He admitted about chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a mutilated human hand," Singh told PTI.

Singh said the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village. "Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with a dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," the officer said.

Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings, including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.

The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.

Walker was killed by her live-in partner, who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.