Chennai police arrested a woman and her male friend in connection with the gruesome murder of an Assam native, whose headless torso was found stuffed inside a suitcase at the Perambur railway station, according to PTI.
The suspects have been identified as Rhema Khatun, 30, and Asraf Ali, 36, both residents of Assam. The victim, 35-year-old Ameer Ali, was Khatun's second husband.
The horrific crime came to light on June 5, when a passenger noticed a suspicious suitcase on platform 4. Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel opened it to discover a man's headless torso wrapped in plastic. The limbs had also been severed. Alerted by commuters complaining of a foul smell, the Government Railway Police investigated the scene.
The Greater Chennai Police told PTI, "During the forensic examination at the crime scene, investigators found red and yellow plastic covers typically used in hospitals."
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By scanning over 100 CCTV cameras and cross-referencing ride-hailing data from Rapido, Ola, and Uber, detectives tracked a suspicious auto-rickshaw to a residence in Teynampet, where the duo was apprehended.
During interrogation, Khatun, who worked as a broker for outstation cancer patients, confessed to the murder. She alleged that her husband frequently assaulted her and engaged in extramarital affairs. Unable to bear the abuse, she conspired with Asraf Ali to eliminate him, reported PTI.
According to the police, the duo spiked the victim's milk with sleeping pills on June 2. Once he lost consciousness, they slit his throat and dismembered the body using a kitchen knife. On June 5, they abandoned the torso at the railway station and dumped the severed limbs into the Buckingham Canal. The head was disposed of in Kolavai Lake in neighbouring Chengalpattu.
Following their confessions, police recovered the missing body parts. A further investigation is currently underway.
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