Grisly murders that shook India in 2022

New Delhi, Dec 17: India was recently left in shock after the sordid details of a gruesome murder made headlines throughout the country; a man killed his live-in partner before proceeding to chop her body and scatter the pieces in a forest. Police identified the 'Butcher of Delhi' as Aaftab Amin Poonawala. He was in a live-in relationship with the victim, Shraddha. Aftab had strangled his girlfriend to death, then chopped her body, and scattered the pieces in the Mehrauli forest.

The crime brings back memories of several other shocking murders from across the country. Many of the offenders executed crimes so appalling that their names are likely to remain etched on people's minds for decades. As the year concludes, we look back at some of the barbaric murders that left the country shocked.

Kerala human sacrifice case

Two women were sacrificed in the Elanthoor village of the Pathanamthitta district in Kerala and their body parts were probably cooked and consumed by a the accused after killing the victims. The three conspirators in the case - Mohammed Shafi alias Rasheed is the first accused, Bhagaval Singh is the second and his wife Laila was listed as the third accused. In a press meet, Kochi commissioner CH Nagraju said that Shafi, the main accused, had a criminal past and trapped the couple who made these sacrifices to be wealthy and prosperous.

According to police, the two women, who made a living selling lottery tickets on the streets here, were 'sacrificed' by the accused to resolve the financial problems of the couple. The women in the shocking human sacrifice case in Kerala had undergone gruesome tortures as the breasts of one of them had been chopped off and the body of the other was cut into 56 pieces by the accused, according to the police. The chopped body parts of the deceased were exhumed from the premises of the couple's house at Elanthoor village. The women had gone missing in September and June this year and the eventual probe, based on their mobile phone details and tower locations, unravelled the story of human sacrifice.

Murder of Kanhaiya Lal

Kanhaiya Lal Teli was a Hindu tailor who was murdered by two Muslim assailants on 28 June 2022 in Udaipur, in Rajasthan. The assailants captured the attack on camera and circulated the video online. Lal was killed for allegedly sharing a social media post in support of Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma, whose comments led to the 2022 Muhammad remarks controversy. Videos of the murder were posted on the internet, with two alleged assailants holding butcher knives and claiming responsibility for the murder.

The assailants were identified as Muhammad Riyaz Attari of Asind in Bhilwara and Ghaus Muhammad, both welders who had shifted to Udaipur years back and were residents of the Khanjipeer locality. The two belonged to the Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam and were members of the Dawat-e-Islami, a Barelvi organization based in Karachi, Pakistan and lead by Muhammad Ilyas Attar Qadri. Ghaus Mohammad had attended religious sessions organized by Dawat-e-Islami in Karachi in 2014 and the "Attari" surname of Mohammad Riyaz Attari is carried by followers of Muhammad Ilyas Attar Qadri.

Kishan Bharwad murder case

A 27-year-old Kishan Boliya, also called Kishan Bharwad was shot by Shabbir and Imtiaz in the Modhwala locality in the city of Dhandhuka in Gujarat on 25 January 2022, and he died on the spot. Kishan had shared a video which showed an image of Prophet Muhammad. Muslims firmly believe that visual depiction of Muhammad are forbidden. Islamists believe that such a visual depiction is blasphemy and an 'insult' to Muhammad, and beheading of the one who blasphemed is appropriate punishment. Unfortunately, many are still unaware about such terrifying laws of blasphemy in Islam. The two accused were arrested by the police. The case is being investigated by the Anti-Terrorism Squad and the National Investigation Agency.

Sidhu Moose Wala

Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, better known by his stage name Sidhu Moose Wala, was an singer, songwriter and actor from Punjab. He rose to the mainstream with his track "So High". In 2021, he joined the Congress party and unsuccessfully contested the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election from Mansa. Moose Wala was shot dead by unidentified assailants on 29 May 2022; a Canada-based gangster, active in Punjab, claimed responsibility for the killing, which the police said was a culmination of inter-gang rivalry.

In 2018, he released his debut album PBX 1, which peaked at number 66 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. His single "47" was ranked on the UK Singles Chart. In 2020, Moose Wala was named by The Guardian among 50 up and coming artists.[6] He is generally regarded to have been one of the greatest Punjabi artists of his generation. Moreover, he was considered as a key figure in opening the door for Punjabi artists into mainstream music.