UP Man Beheaded, Dismembered For Relationship With Friend's Sister

A 22-year-old man was allegedly lured by his friends, murdered, and decapitated before his body was disposed of in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur. According to the police, the killing was motivated by a personal dispute after the victim's friend discovered that he had entered into a relationship with his sister.

The victim, Rishikesh, a resident of Kanpur's Chakeri, was reported missing by his elder brother Ravi Kumar on Sunday. By then, his body had already been discovered in the Maharajpur area, stripped of its head and thrown along the riverbank.

Four men have been arrested in connection with the murder, while four others, including the prime accused, remain missing.

The Disappearance

According to police, the chain of events began on the evening of August 29, when Rishikesh was called out of his home by two of his neighbours and friends, identified as Mogli and Nikhil. They told his family he was being taken to visit a Ganesh Chaturthi pandal.

Unbeknownst to his family, several other acquaintances -- Pawan, Babi, Danny, Satyam, Rishu and Akash -- were already waiting near the pandal. Together, the group forced Rishikesh onto a motorcycle and took him towards the Kakori forest, an isolated stretch on the outskirts of Kanpur.

Two days later, when Rishikesh did not return, his elder brother lodged a formal complaint of kidnapping with the police. 

The Killing In The Forest

According to the police, Rishikesh was tied up with a rope, his legs bound, and his throat slit with a knife in the Kakori forest.

The accused admitted to beheading the victim in order to prevent his body from being identified. A sack had been brought in advance to transport the remains. The group then procured an e-rickshaw, in which they carried the severed parts of the body to the Jajmau bridge and threw them into the River Ganga in different directions.

The Motive

The central figure, identified as Pawan Mallah, was both a friend of the victim and the elder brother of the woman with whom Rishikesh had developed a relationship.

Pawan, who has a prior criminal record and had previously been banished from Kanpur district for six months, allegedly grew enraged on discovering the relationship after his return. 

Discovery Of The body

On Sunday, the family filed a missing person complaint, but police in Maharajpur were alerted to the discovery of a headless body along the banks of the River Ganga.

Relatives of the missing man were called to the scene. They identified the body parts as those of Rishikesh on the basis of a tattoo on his right hand and the sacred thread tied around his wrist.

(With inputs from Arun Agarwal)