Man held for killing woman in Chhattisgarh's Bemetara, throwing body parts near river

Bemetara, Jul 17 (PTI) A man was arrested in Chhattisgarh's Bemetara district on Friday for allegedly murdering a 50-year-old woman, dismembering her and dumping the body parts near Shivnath river, a police official said. Ram Prasad Sonwani alias Bengali (42), a resident of Sonpuri village under Chandanu police station limits, also allegedly had sex with the victim's corpse, the official said. "Victim Duklahin Bai Banjare was missing since July 7. She lived with her family in Raipur but had gone alone for farming work to her native Sonpuri village. On July 9, her son found some cloth bundles near Amraiya Nala on the banks of Shivnath river in Tuma village and alerted police," the official said. The woman's body parts were found at the spot, following which a probe began that included deployment of forensic experts and a dog squad, he said. "Sustained investigation, technical evidence and questioning of local residents led us to Sonwani, who confessed that he entered the victim's house on July 6 night with the intention of raping her. When she resisted, he killed her with a spade strike on her head," the official said. The accused then sexually assaulted the woman's body, dismembered it using a wood-cutting saw found inside the house, wrapped the body parts separately and dumped them in the Shivnath river the following night to destroy evidence, the official informed. "The accused had an old enmity with victim woman's husband. He also stole Rs 2,500 from the victim's house, of which Rs 500 was recovered during the investigation. The murder weapon, saw and other incriminating articles were recovered after Sonwani was questioned," he said. Sonwani had previously been convicted in the murder of another woman from the same village in 2017 and had a criminal history, the official said. He has been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for murder, destruction of evidence, rape, robbery and other offences, police said. PTI COR BNM