Missing Heads, Mutilated Bodies: Murders of 2 Women Remain Unsolved in Meerut

Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam

This video is the first part of The Quint's new series 'Unidentified', wherein we revisit six brutal cases of crimes against women in Uttar Pradesh that still remain unsolved. Ground investigations such as this require time and resources. Support us – and empower our journalism.

(Trigger Warning: This story has details of murder and violence. Viewer discretion is advised)

In the early hours of 26 October 2020, residents passing by the Lisari Gate cremation ground in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut spotted a sack lying near the garbage dump. As the suspicion grew stronger, they alerted the police.

When police personnel from the Lisari Gate police station reached the spot and opened the sack, they found inside a body of a woman, brutally cut into nearly 10 pieces. The woman's hands and legs were chopped – and her head was missing. Naturally, the biggest challenge before the police was to find the missing head to be able to ascertain her identity.

That was almost three years ago.

With the head still missing, the woman remains unidentified. The final reports in the case have been submitted, and the investigation is now closed.

"We tried all means (before closing the probe). Forensic examination was done. We have preserved the DNA. The post-mortem was done. The body was recovered in 8-10 pieces. The head was missing, making it difficult to ascertain victim's identity. We are still clueless who she was."

Arvind Chaurasiya, Then Circle Office, Kotwali

In 2022, another similar case came to light in Meerut when a dismembered and headless body of a woman was found.

Woman's Decapitated Body Found, But No FIR, No Investigation

At Meerut's Lal Kurti, a highly secure and well-guarded area, on 6 July 2022, the body of a woman was recovered in several pieces from a sewer.

Scattered body parts were recovered by the police. The investigating team had then claimed that the body that was recovered was decomposing. The victim was roughly between 30 and 35 years. She was, in all likelihood, killed 20-25 days back. And her body was later abandoned. The woman's head and several body parts were missing.

A year later, the police are still clueless about the woman's identity or who killed her. Police claims the cause of her death could not be ascertained. So, even a case wasn't filed. There was no FIR, no investigation. And the victim remains a mere mention in the police station's crime register.

After post-mortem, the cause of death could not be ascertained. Viscera was preserved and sent for forensic examination. But since the cause of death could not be ascertained, a case was not registered.

Rohit Singh Sajwan, SSP, Meerut