Maharashtra’s Buldhana police recently made a chilling discovery; a woman’s partially burnt torso, with her head severed. The horrific nature of the crime sent a wave of panic and insecurity through the region. When the police mounted a probe, days later they ended up in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, where they learnt that the woman’s brother and father had murdered her in what has been described as ‘honour killing.’ The duo was taken into custody thereafter.

Victim identified as Shivani

According to police, the woman’s mutilated body was found in an open field in Buldhana on April 26. Superintendent of Police (SP) of Buldhana Nilesh Tambe visited the spot and issued directives to launch an intensive probe. A panchnama was conducted, and the body was sent for further examination. Until then, the identity of the victim had not been established.

Under Crime Branch Inspector Sunil Ambulkar’s supervision, multiple police teams had been deployed across neighbouring districts like Amravati, Jalgaon, Akola and several regions in Madhya Pradesh. Authorities, meanwhile, also began sifting through the missing persons FIRs to identify the victim.

Missing person plaint provides crucial lead

Nearly 12 days after the probe, the cops achieved a breakthrough when they came across a missing person complaint filed on May 1 at Khaknar Police Station in MP’s Burhanpur district. The complainant, Bapuram Natthu Kalmekar, reported that his daughter, Shivani (24) had left home on April 25 without informing the family. The cops began connecting the dots, and summoned his father, as well as brother for interrogation.

Father confesses to killing Shivani

During sustained interrogation, Shivani’s father confessed to killing her, and revealed harrowing details. The investigating police personnel said Shivani had been married to a man in Maharashtra’s Amravati district, but maintained an extra-marital relationship with her cousin.

Despite repeated objections from her family, when she refused to call off the relationship, her father, in a fit of rage, struck her on the head with a bamboo stick, leading to her instant death.

Body dumped in Buldhana

Police revealed that the next day, Shivani’s father and brother transported the body via a bike to a village in Buldhana district. In a bid to conceal the crime, they severed her head from the torso and tried to burn the remains in a field.

However, the body was burnt partially, ultimately blowing the lid-off the cold-blooded murder and bringing the crime to light.

The police said they have arrested both the father and the brother, and a murder case has been registered against them. Senior police officials said that further probe is underway to establish the sequence of events, as well as the involvement of other individuals and premeditation.