As the year 2023 comes to an end, we look back at all the achievements and developments that we as a nation have witnessed. But even as the world walks ahead, one can’t ignore the times when some ghastly blood-curdling crimes left us shaken, questioning the evolution of India as a society.
From a man chopping his live-in partner to pieces and stocking it up in a fridge to a woman being paraded naked, raped and left to die are some of the instances that left the country in tatters.
Also Read: Yearender 2023: Article 370 to same-sex marriage – 10 big Supreme Court judgments this year
Delhi’s Khanjhawala hit-and-drag case
Right on the very first day of the new year in 2023, five men in a car hit a woman, Anjali, on a scooty and dragged her for about 13 km through the streets of west Delhi in the dark of the night. After her body came off, the men, instead of getting down and helping her, drove away abandoning the woman.
The victim’s body was found on the road in a dismantled state without clothes and with a broken back and leg in Delhi’s Kanjhawala sending shockwaves across the country on New Year. The incident was partially caught on CCTV. Delhi Police’s chargesheet invoked murder charges against four accused, namely Amit Khanna, Krishan, Manoj Mittal and Mithun, who were seated in the offending vehicle at the time of the accident and dragged the victim.
Also Read: Kanjhawala case: Delhi girl, hit and dragged by car, was with a friend who fled from spot
Delhi fridge murder
Another case that shook the nation after Shraddha Walkar’s murder case in 2022 was Nikki Yadav’s murder by her live-in partner. 24-year-old Sahil Gehlot, a resident of Mitraon village in southwest Delhi, allegedly killed his live-in partner and stuffed her body inside a freezer at his dhaba in Najafgarh. Hours later, he married another woman.
According to the police, Nikki Yadav was strangled to death by Sahil Gehlot with the data cable of his mobile in his car. The incident took place near Kashmiri Gate ISBT on the intervening night of February 9 and 10. He then kept driving with her body next to him, for nearly 40 kilometers within the national capital. Hours later, he went off to marry another woman.
Sahil Gahlot said that his family was putting pressure on him to get married to some other woman. His engagement and marriage were fixed for February 9 and 10, respectively. The accused did not inform Nikki about his engagement or marriage plans. When Nikki Yadav got wind of his wedding plan she confronted him and arguments started between the two after which he strangled her and stuffed her body in a fridge.
Also Read: Southwest Delhi murder: CCTV footage of victim’s last hours at home retrieved
Umesh Pal murder case
Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed allegedly got Umesh Pal murdered to retain his power and authority. Pal, a witness to the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, in which former slain MP and gangster Atiq Ahmed was the prime accused, was shot dead outside his home in February this year.
The Prayagraj police have so far arrested 11 accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. Four others, including Atiq’s son, have been killed in police encounters, while Atiq and his brother Ashraf were shot dead by three men while they were being taken to a hospital under police escort in April this year. Six others, including Atiq’s wife Shaista Parveen and Ashraf’s wife Zainab Fatima, are on the run.
Also Read: Umesh Pal murder case: Another accused killed in police encounter on Monday
Atiq Ahmed shot dead
A few months after Umesh Pal was murdered and Atiq Ahmed was known to have orchestrated his murder, the gangster and his brother, flanked by several policemen, were interacting with reporters when a hand appeared out of nowhere and shot the two in the head in Uttar Pradesh. The men, who were handcuffed, collapsed right there. The incident took place when they were interacting with the media and were shot dead point blank on national television.
The men were being taken for a hospital check-up when they were attacked. The murder, which was caught on camera, came just days after Atiq Ahmed’s son was killed in a police encounter. The three killers were immediately overpowered and caught by the police after they shot Ahmed and his brother, said cops.
His murder came just a few days after he told the court that he may be killed in a fake encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
Also Read: Gangster Atiq Ahmed, brother Ashraf killed in firing in Prayagraj days after son’s encounter
Teen stabbed, bludgeoned to death in Delhi
Another crime that sent shivers across the country was when a 16-year-old girl was stabbed multiple times and then bludgeoned to death allegedly by her 20-year-old boyfriend in full view of bystanders and pedestrians — not one among them alerted the police — on a street in Shahbad Dairy area of Delhi.
According to the police, accused Sahil Khan accosted the minor and stabbed her at least 20 times and then hit her with a concrete slab lying nearby until she died. According to a preliminary postmortem report, apart from stab wounds on her head and chest, the girl suffered a fractured skull.
The murder, which took place in May, was caught by CCTV cameras. Sahil, who fled after the murder, was arrested from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh later.
Also Read: Delhi shocker: Accused who stabbed, stoned minor girl to death arrested near Bulandshahr in UP
Manipur horror
As Manipur reeled under violence that broke out on May 3, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, two women were paraded naked by several men and then reportedly raped. The clip, that emerged months later, sent ripples and sparked outrage across the country. The incident even triggered reactions from international leaders, including the United States.
In the video, they could be seen being made to walk naked down a road and towards a field by a mob of men. Some of the men could also be seen dragging the two women towards a field and forcibly groping them. The incident also spurred a political storm with the Opposition demanding a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Several people have been arrested in connection with the incident and the case was handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further investigation.
Also Read: Manipur horror: 2-month-old video of women being paraded naked goes viral, main accused arrested
Karni Sena sect chief murder
On December 5, right after the Assembly election results in Rajasthan were announced, Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Jaipur on Tuesday. Two people, who were with Gogamedi, were also injured in the shooting incident.
The incident was caught on CCTV. In the footage, Gogamedi can be seen sitting inside a room with a few people, when two of them opened fire, shot at him and other men who were with the Karni Sena chief. Then the accused fled the spot.
The attack came months after the Karni Sena sect alleged in August that a conspiracy had been hatched against its members after its Rajasthan state president Bhanwar Singh Saladiya was shot at in Udaipur by a former member.
Also Read: WATCH Video: Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh shot dead in Jaipur, murder caught on cam