‘Honour Killing’: Father, brother held for murdering newly-wed woman

Buldhana: The Buldhana police cracked a gruesome murder within 12 days after launching investigation, arresting the father and brother on Sunday for allegedly killing a newly-married woman and attempting to destroy evidence by burning and mutilating her body. The accused allegedly drove over 100 kms on a motorcycle with the body from Khadki village in Burhanpur district to dump it in Jalgaon Jamod in Buldhana district. The alleged ‘honour killing' case came to light on April 26 this year when a partially burnt, headless body of an unidentified woman was discovered near a riverbank in Rajura farmland under Jalgaon Jamod police limits. A human skull was also found around 100 metres away from the spot, triggering panic in the area.Based on a complaint lodged by a local resident, Jalgaon Jamod police registered an offence. Considering the brutality and sensitivity of the crime, superintendent of police Nilesh Tambe directed the Local Crime Branch (LCB) to take over the investigation.LCB teams under police inspector Sunil Ambolkar launched investigation across multiple locations, including Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, and neighbouring Burhanpur district in Madhya Pradesh. Police scanned records of missing women and relied on technical inputs and informants.A crucial lead emerged on May 9 when the LCB team learnt about a missing complaint registered on May 1 at Khaknar police station in Burhanpur. The complainant, Bapuram Kalemkar (55), had reported that his daughter has been missing since April 25.Police connected the dots and identified the deceased as Shivani Bapuram Kalemkar, a resident of Khadki village in Burhanpur district. She had married Prakash Bhilavekar of Kharya Tembhur village in Dharni (Amravati) on April 15 and had recently returned to her parental home.During the course of investigation, the victim's family came under scanner as there was no follow-up after the missing complaint was lodged, said police. As per sources, the complaint was lodged to allegedly mislead the police. Police said they detained the victim's father Bapuram (55) and brother Ajay (27), both residents of Khadki village in Burhanpur, who revealed that Shivani was allegedly in a relationship with her cousin even after marriage, which angered the family. On the night of April 23, Bapuram allegedly assaulted her with a bamboo stick, killing her on the spot, police said. Police said the accused kept the body at home for a day and later transported it on a motorcycle to Rajura farmland in Buldhana district. In a bid to conceal identity, they burnt the body, cut the head and dumped the parts at different locations. Blood-stained clothes and the weapon were also discarded in a forested area, said police.Both Bapuram and Ajay were arrested and handed over to Jalgaon Jamod police.