1 week Ago
A decaying body found in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur led to the arrest of 38-year-old Dhula Ram for...
Read More A decaying body discovered under a pile of dry leaves in the forests of Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur district has pulled back the curtain on a disturbing chronicle of violence, paranoia, and serial abuse in one of state’s remote villages. The accused, 38-year-old Dhula Ram from Sulesa village, now stands at the centre of a chilling investigation after police uncovered that his latest act of brutality may have been the culmination of years of unchecked domestic violence, and ten failed marriages. According to police officers, the grim discovery was made in the Pandrapath area of Bagicha region, where local villagers, alarmed by an unbearable stench near a forest drain, stumbled upon a severely decomposed and partially buried body.
The corpse, later identified as that of 35-year-old Basanti Bai, bore signs of having been concealed for several days. Her face, police said, was disfigured beyond recognition. The breakthrough in the case came after investigators, working off witness accounts and local leads, arrested Dhula Ram.
During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to murdering his wife following a heated confrontation. He accused her of stealing rice, cooking oil, and a sari from a wedding the couple had recently attended, and beat her to death in a fit of rage. He then dragged her body into the nearby forest and concealed it under a heap of dry foliage, hoping the act would go unnoticed.
But as days passed, the smell of decay worsened. The case took a darker turn when police uncovered that Basanti was not Dhula Ram’s first wife, but his tenth. As per a TOI report, nine women had previously married and left Dhula Ram, each alleging violent behaviour, abuse, and extreme domestic cruelty.
His troubling history went largely unchecked by the police, allowing him to repeatedly remarry despite his past. Police believe that this disturbing pattern points to a cycle of possessiveness and violence driven by a deep-seated fear of abandonment. Dhula Ram had grown increasingly suspicious and paranoid in his current marriage, officers told TOI.
He was convinced that like the others, Basanti too would leave him. This fear, coupled with the theft accusation, might have pushed him over the edge, they reportedly said. Psychologists consulted by local police suggested that Dhula Ram’s actions stem from a dangerous psychological spiral: repeated rejection compounded by a need for control, possibly magnified by socio-economic pressures and isolation in rural settings.
Police say the investigation is ongoing and that they are examining whether any of his previous marriages involved unreported criminal conduct. Women’s rights advocates are now calling for a thorough enquiry into the legal and social mechanisms that allowed Dhula Ram to repeatedly remarry despite his violent history..
