Couple held for killing, decapitating woman, dumping body in Pune river

Pune: A couple has been arrested in connection with the death of a woman, whose headless body was found on the banks of a river in Pune city earlier this week, police said on Sunday.

The police on Saturday arrested Ashfaq Khan and his wife Hamida for allegedly killing his 48-year-old sister in a dispute over ownership of a room in a slum, an official said.

The police found the body of a woman, who had been decapitated with her hands and legs severed, on the banks of the Mutha River in the Kharadi area on August 26.

Following a probe, the woman was identified as Sakina Khan (48), the official said.

Joint Commissioner of Police Ranjankumar Sharma said, "The Pune city police recovered a woman's torso from the banks of the Mutha River. There were no clothes on the body, and the accused had dismembered it to destroy evidence before throwing it in the river." Investigations revealed that the victim, Sakina, had a dispute with her brother over the ownership of a room in a slum in the Shivaji Nagar area, he said.

Sakina had been reported missing, and her brother Ashfaq and sister-in-law Hamida were detained in connection with her disappearance, the official said.

The duo allegedly strangled the victim, decapitated her and dismembered the body to destroy the evidence, he said.

The couple has been arrested under sections 103 (murder) and 238 (causing the disappearance of evidence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the official said.