Woman missing for 23 days found buried in Bengal, lover arrested
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Kolkata: The decomposed body of a 34-year-old woman, who had been missing for 23 days, was recovered from a dense forest area on Henry Island in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, police said on Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Rabia Fakir, whose body was recovered on Friday.
Police said the woman was allegedly murdered and buried under sand in the forest area of Henry Island in Bakkhali in an attempt to hide the crime. Her alleged lover, Zahirul Sardar, has been arrested in connection with the case.
Rabia, a resident of Joynagar under the jurisdiction of Bakultala police station, was allegedly in an extramarital relationship with Zahirul, who is also from the same locality.
According to investigators, differences had developed between the two recently. Rabia went missing on May 26, following which her family lodged a missing person complaint at Bakultala police station.
After the investigation, police arrested Zahirul on June 18.
During interrogation, the accused allegedly confessed to the crime. Police said Zahirul told investigators that he had taken Rabia to Bakkhali on May 26 on the pretext of a trip to the seaside resort town. He allegedly strangled her to death at a secluded location in Henry Island and buried the body under sand to destroy evidence.
Following his alleged confession, teams from Bakultala and Fraserganj Coastal police stations took the accused to the spot on Friday and recovered the body.
The remains have been sent to the Kakdwip Hospital morgue for post-mortem examination.
"Yesterday (Friday), the accused was taken to Henry Island to recover the body of the woman after he confessed to the crime during interrogation. The body has been recovered and sent for autopsy. The exact cause of death can be ascertained once the autopsy report arrives. Investigation is on to find out whether anyone else was involved in the incident," said a senior officer of Baruipur Police District.
Rabia's brother, Ashraf Fakir, alleged that Zahirul had lured his sister into a relationship before killing her and burying her body. He demanded strict punishment for the accused.
The investigation is underway to determine if any other persons were involved in the crime.
With IANS inputs