Serial killer’s challenge… when the body parts were found outside the jail

New Delhi. Between October 2006 and May 2007, Chandrakant Jha, known as the “Headless Bodies Serial Killer”, dumped three naked, beheaded, mutilated corpses outside the gates of Delhi’s Tihar Jail, leaving a note saying, In which the police was challenged to catch him. Notes found inside fruit baskets containing the decomposed bodies puzzled the authorities. One note read, “To this day I have been punished for crimes I did not commit, but now I have actually committed murder. I dare you to catch me. More gifts coming… Your Daddy.” The bodies were packed in gunny bags and placed inside fruit baskets, while the limbs were scattered in various parts of the city. Jha, who had been arrested earlier in murder cases but acquitted due to lack of evidence, was finally arrested on 20 May 2007 from near Mianwali Nagar in West Delhi’s Paschim Vihar. During interrogation, he confessed to beheading several victims and dumping their body parts near Tihar Jail. He revealed that he used to tie the hands and feet of his victims before strangling them. Inside Jha’s room, investigators found an album containing photographs of his victims, taken shortly before his murder. The calmness seen in these pictures was chilling, which shows that Jha knew very well what he was doing. Jha was initially sentenced to death, but the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. He is currently incarcerated in Tihar Jail, the same place where he mercilessly dumped the bodies of his victims. Most of Jha’s victims were friends and acquaintances from his village. He would call them to Delhi, gain their trust in a few days and then brutally end their lives. The modus operandi of his crimes and the disturbing nature of the murders generated public outrage and attracted the attention of the media and general public. The then Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau, who heard the case in 2013, showed no mercy to Jha. Judge Lau said, “The crime has been committed with extraordinary viciousness and extreme cruelty. The postmortem report confirms that the death in this case was due to beheading (not a case of beheading after being killed). The victim was sentenced to death.” How much time must have hurt?” Jha was also fined Rs 20,000 for his heinous act. Furthermore, the court criticized the Delhi Police for its casual approach to the investigation, as a result of which the identity of one of the victims, described by the convict as “Daleep”, could not be established. The court decried the lack of efforts made to trace the victim’s family, and stressed the need for a more thorough investigative process. Chandrakant Jha’s conviction has brought some relief to the families of his victims, who had suffered unimaginable pain and loss. This underlines the importance of a strong and vigilant criminal justice system that leaves no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice for the victims and their loved ones.