In the Gumla district of Jharkhand, a horrific case of love jihad and brutal murder has come to the fore wherein a tribal girl named Archana Kandulna was raped, murdered and then her body was chopped into three pieces by the accused identified as Esan Mirdaha. The accused was arrested on Saturday (December 9) and incarcerated. Reports say that accused Esan posed as Badal to lure the victim into his love trap.
The matter pertains to Khunti’s Fori village under the Sadar police station precinct wherein the 21-year-old victim’s severed body parts including her head were recovered from a well on Tuesday (December 5). The victim was a resident of Jaipur village under Rania police station limits and working in Pune, however, she had recently returned to her village. According to media reports, accused Esan Mirdaha alias Badal lured the girl into his trap and raped her. Subsequently, he murdered the girl and cut her body into three pieces.
On Friday (December 8), the police recovered the deceased victim’s hands. Meanwhile, SP Harvinder Singh said that the victim was identified with an Aadhaar card recovered near the victim’s mutilated body found in the well. According to an ETV Bharat report, accused Esan told the police that he found several pictures on the victim’s mobile phone which she was allegedly using to blackmail him. She had also blocked his number. This allegedly infuriated the accused who then called the victim to a local fair (mela) in Fori village to meet on November 28.
The accused reportedly managed to take Archana in confidence who then took her clothes off after accused Esan asked her to do so. Following that, the accused attacked the victim with a sharp object (Tangi or axe) and severed her hands. The accused then beheaded the victim and disposed of the victim’s torso in one well and head in another.
According to SP Harvinder Singh, the accused confessed his crime during the questioning. SP Singh added that the police seized the deceased’s bag and clothes, a severed hand, the Tangi (axe) used in the murder, three mobile phones and a bike, based on information disclosed by accused Ehsan.
On Friday, Koche Munda, BJP MLA from the Torpa assembly constituency led a protest along with his supporters outside the block office in Rania demanding justice for the deceased victim. MLA Munda said that despite CM Hemant Soren being a tribal, the crimes against tribals are on the rise in the state. He added the accused in this case should be hanged. The BJP MLA also met the victim’s father on whose complaint a case was registered against the accused.
The BJP MLA has also submitted a memorandum in this regard. The victim’s father said that his daughter was going to Delhi, however, she missed the train at Ranchi Station. The victim told her father that she was staying at her friend’s house now and that she needed money. The victim’s father said that he had called Archana to come home and take some money, however, her mobile phone was switched off since then and later he received the news that a severed body had been recovered in Fori village.
Meanwhile, Hindu Jagran Manch leader Sanjay Kumar Verma has called the incident a case of love jihad. He said that if the police do not conduct a proper investigation into the case, the Hindu rights organisation will demand a CBI probe.
