Protest in Jodhpur over beautician’s murder, body in mortuary for 8 days

Jodhpur: Sardarpura market in the city remained closed on Monday as a mark of protest by the traders' association here against the failure of police to arrest the main accused in the murder of beautician Anita Choudhary even eight days after her body was found.Choudhary's family members were present at a demonstration Sardarpura Traders' Association staged on Monday, and they together put forward five demands: a Rs 1 crore compensation for the family, a govt job to a member of the family, the arrest of the main accused, an investigation by a retired high court judge, and the removal of officials of the police commissioner's office responsible for the neglect. The family members have been protesting for the past five days over the murder and are yet to accept the body for the final rites.RLP activist Sampat Poonia, present at the protest, resented the fact that while the family has been protesting, none of the community leaders has come to meet them. "A 24-hour ultimatum has been given, and if no community leader or party leader comes and assures the family of help, they will take the body from the mortuary tomorrow and will also withdraw the complaint they lodged with police," said Poonia."If Jodhpur police can arrest a high-profile accused like Asaram, how can a person like the accused, who is a dry cleaner, stay at large? A conspiracy seems to be behind this. It is unclear if the accused has been killed or is being protected," added Poonia.The body of Anita Choudhary, who ran a beauty parlour, was found buried in a pit in a house belonging to Gulammudin, said to be victim's ‘dharm-bhai' for the past 25 years. Her body, chopped into six pieces, was found in a poly bag.Police arrested Gulammudin's wife, Abida, and has been interrogating her for the past five days, but she has been pleading innocence and claiming that she has no information about her husband's whereabouts. DCP (West) Rajarshi Raj Verma said police have been vigorously searching for Gulammudin.