A woman from Turkmenistan, living under a fake identity in India, was allegedly murdered in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut town last month by a group of men who also burned her face with acid to destroy evidence.
Sharing disturbing details about the alleged crime, the police said that the woman – identified as Mohabbat from Turkmenistan – was staying in India using an Aadhaar card in the name of Archita Arora.
HT previously reported that her mother, Nazmudinova Gulnara, recognized her earrings during a video call and confirmed her identity.
The police arrested four men – Chanchal Kumar alias Bunty; Gurumukh alias Arvind, Sandeep alias Setu and Vivek alias Kaka – in connection with the case.
Disturbing details
Police said that Mohabbat’s body was recovered near Bhagwati Farm House, near Moana Khurd police station on February 21, and that a dispute over money at a hotel led to the crime.
The four accused were reportedly drinking with the victim at a hotel when an argument broke out over money. During the altercation, the woman allegedly threatened to implicate them in a rape case. The accused then assaulted her and suffocated her with a blanket.
The earlier HT report quoted rural police superintendent Abhijit Kumar as saying that the accused poured acid on her face and burned her hands to hide her identity and tattoos. They then transported the body in a car, poured acid on her face and threw her into Moana. The police found the car, an empty acid bottle and the blanket.
An FIR was registered and a detailed investigation was initiated.
Investigators examined nearly 500 CCTV clips and traced the suspicious vehicle to Chanchal Kumar, who runs the Avika Hotel in Partapur. During interrogation, he allegedly confessed and named three of his accomplices.
Development after police say case cracked
Five days after the body was found, police held a press conference in Meerut in which they claimed to have “solved” the case and arrested four accused. The case took another turn after the victim’s mother, Gulnara, contacted the police via video call and claimed that the victim was actually her daughter Mohabbat.
A police officer familiar with the case said: “Mohabbat made her last phone call to an Uzbek woman, Aziza Fayzulayevna Kelisheva, 49, according to a Times Of India report.
The officer was quoted as saying: “We shared the photo of the body with Aziza, and she sent it to the victim’s mother in Turkmenistan. The mother then identified Mohabbat’s body based on the latter’s clothes and earrings.”
This claim was reportedly supported by another document found during the investigation – a Turkmenistan passport that expired in 2019 and was issued to Mohabbat in 2009. Police suspect that the woman may have overstayed in India and obtained an Aadhaar card under a fake identity.
The four defendants were arrested and transferred to judicial custody. Police said further investigations are underway, including how the victim lived under a fake identity in India.
