Love, lies & murder: Fake suicide exposes killing of innocent man in Gujarat

RAJKOT: The investigation into the shocking reappearance of a married woman in Kutch, who faked her suicide to elope with her lover, unravelled a sinister plot of kidnapping, murdering, and setting ablaze an innocent beggar. This scheme was hatched by the duo to force her families into believing that she had immolated herself.

On Saturday, the police booked 27-year-old Rami Kesariya and her lover Anil Gangal for murder after they confessed to killing an unknown mendicant and burning his body on a pyre near her in-laws' house in Khari village on July 5. Rami even left her mobile phone and footwear near the burning logs so that her parents and in-laws would believe that she had committed suicide. Her unsuspecting family, including her in-laws, completed the cremation, believing the charred remains were hers.

Explaining the motive behind the plot, police said Rami, who was unhappy with her remarriage, firmly believed that the only way she and Anil could live together was if she was presumed dead. The marriage of Rami and Gangal, who is also married, was not possible due to societal and community norms.

However, on September 29, she reached her father's house in Khari village of Bhuj taluka, much to his shock, and explained the motive of faking suicide to him. He urged Rami to report to the Khavda police, but she refused, forcing him to alert the cops. The police then traced Rami and Anil to Rapar town two days ago and detained them.

MB Chavda, Police Inspector of Khavda, said, "Anil started searching for a dead body or a beggar living on alms. He spotted a person sleeping on a footpath near Hamirsar Lake in Bhuj and decided to eliminate him as per their plot."

Anil and Rami went in a van and kidnapped the beggar on the night of July 3. They strangled him in the van, stuffed his body in a jute bag, and kept it in a cattle shed located at an isolated spot on the village outskirts the next day. On July 5, Anil brought 20 litres of diesel and wooden logs and set the body on fire. Rami had even sent her father a video informing him that she was ending her life.

The same day, Rami's father-in-law saw the fire, and the body was charred beyond recognition. He also saw Rami's footwear and mobile phone there and assumed that she had committed suicide.

Vikas Sunda, superintendent of police (Kutch West), said, "Rami was consumed by guilt and came to her father's house to confess. But she did not heed his request to approach the police. We began the investigation after he informed the police that she was alive."

Duo Didn't Know Who They Killed

Anil and Rami admitted they had no idea who they had kidnapped and murdered. When the police started asking people near Bhuj's Hamirsar Lake, another mendicant informed them that a man who had been sleeping on this footpath for many years had suddenly disappeared. A sketch was prepared, and the victim was identified as Bharat Bhatiya after cops located his brother in Bhuj.

Anil attended Rami's condolence meet

After the incident, Anil and Rami started living in a rented house in Bhuj. To avoid the slightest suspicion, Anil even attended the besna (condolence meet) for Rami. "So that his wife also doesn't suspect, Anil met her at regular intervals while also living with Rami," added Ravindrasinh Jadeja, deputy superintendent of police.

Bones sent FSL

The police collected the bones of the dead man from the crematorium in the presence of a forensic team. Generally, in villages, they make a pile of ash and other remains in a corner after the cremation of bodies. The police collected the sample from that and sent it for forensic testing.