CHENNAI: Authorities reported that a 38-year-old pregnant woman was allegedly murdered by her boyfriend after she declined to terminate her pregnancy and continuously urged him to wed her. According to investigators, the suspect later shaved her head and brutally smashed it to hinder identification before placing her dismembered remains into a red suitcase and sending it on the Tamil Nadu Express.
Hayathun Nisha, originally from Odisha, was killed earlier this month in a rented residence on Mosque Street in Guduvanchery, police stated. Her body parts were subsequently discovered inside an unclaimed suitcase in a general compartment of the Tamil Nadu Express at the Agra Cantonment railway station. The train had departed from Chennai Central heading to New Delhi on August 3. The incident came to light on August 5 when railway police inspecting the suitcase found the dismembered remains.
Since the train had its origin in Chennai, investigators reviewed CCTV footage from Chennai Central and various railway stations along the route. This footage depicted a man and a woman transporting the suitcase, which aided police in tracing their movements back to Guduvanchery.
Utilizing CCTV evidence, mobile phone data, and other technical resources, the Guduvanchery police tracked down Manik Uddin Laskar, 22, from Assam, and his wife Bhagabati Majhi, from Odisha, to Kashimpur in the Jiribam district of Manipur on Saturday. The couple was apprehended and brought back to Guduvanchery on Sunday for further questioning.
The investigation led authorities to the rented accommodation on Mosque Street where Nisha had resided. Police discovered additional body parts in a large cooking vessel at that location.
As investigators delved into Nisha’s relationship with Manik Uddin, they learned that she had become pregnant. Police indicated that her refusal to abort the pregnancy and her persistent demands for marriage resulted in frequent disputes between the two.
It is suspected that Manik and his wife conspired to murder Nisha. Following the killing, they allegedly dismembered her body and placed some of the remains into the suitcase before transporting it to Chennai Central to board the Tamil Nadu Express, investigators reported.
During interrogation, the couple reportedly informed police that Nisha’s head was shaved after being severed. They initially attempted to fit the head into the suitcase but were unsuccessful. Consequently, they purportedly smashed it into smaller fragments and packed those remains inside, as per police reports.
Investigators suspect that the head was intentionally mutilated and shaved to complicate the identification of the victim. Police are working alongside Agra railway police to locate any remaining body parts and ascertain whether all remains transported on the train have been recovered.
