Spurned in love, Chhattisgarh man stabs girlfriend 51 times with a screwdriver

Raipur, June 3 (IANS) A man allegedly killed his girlfriend by stabbing her 51 times with a screwdriver in Chhattisgarh's Korba district after he alleged that she was having an affair with another person.

The victim has been identified as Neelam Kusum Panna and the accused Shahbaz.

Shahbaz, who used to work as a bus conductor, befriended Neelam, a resident of Pump Colony in CSEB police station area of Korba.

When he left for Gujarat in search of a new job, the relationship began to turn sour. But as time passed, they again started communicating with each other and started to grow closer.

Despite this, Shahbaz started doubting that Kusum was in love with another man.

A day before Christmas last year, Shahbaz reached Korba from Gujarat and then went straight to Kusum's house where she was prepping for the festivities.

She was alone in the house and a fight between Kusum and Shahbaz ensued.

Shahbaz then attacked Kusum with a screwdriver, stabbing her 34 times on the chest and 16 times on the back.

An attempt was made to politicise this murder as a case of 'love jihad' since Kusum was a tribal woman and Shahbaz was a Muslim.

Shahbaz confessed to his crime after he was apprehended by the police. He had reached Chhattisgarh from Gujarat via plane, which was also confirmed by the plane ticket recovered from Kusum's room by the police.

Many similar cases have been reported in the state as a result of a relationship gone wrong.

In July 2022, a youth in the state capital Raipur had killed his girlfriend by hitting her with a hammer and was later awarded a death sentence.

Another case in Raipur is of a woman Archana Sahu, who was in relationship with a man named Kamlesh Sahu. Kamlesh killed Archana on suspicions that she was having an affair.

Also in the state capital it was reported that a young couple had a fight on the day of their wedding reception. Later the man committed suicide after murdering his soon-to-be wife.

According to National Crime Records Bureau data, at least three murder and rape cases are being registered in Chhattisgarh every day.

In 2021, 1,057 murder and 1,093 rape cases were registered in the state. In 2018, the state was at fifth place in the country in the state in terms of number of rape cases and in 2021 it stood at 11th place.

However, the situation has improved in the state in terms of cases of kidnapping and dacoity.