SURAT: What initially seemed like an accidental death at an embroidery unit in Katargam was uncovered as a premeditated murder by a 19-year-old who allegedly strangled his 24-year-old gay partner on Feb 8.
The investigation and subsequent arrest of the accused revealed that he was upset over the victim’s involvement with other men and a video of their sexual act recorded on the victim’s phone.
On Feb 8, the accused tried to disguise the 24-year-old partner’s killing as a death caused by accidental strangulation in a machine. The accused also wanted the victim to delete a video of their engagement in a sexual act that he recorded on his phone, as revealed by the investigation by the Katargam police.
To avoid suspicion, the accused himself went to the hospital with the victim and also attended his last rites in their native place in Bihar.
Katargam police inspector B K Chaudhary told TOI: “While investigating at the crime scene, we found a mobile phone dumped under the machine in which the victim got strangled and died. We registered an accidental death case and began an investigation. We handed over the body to the deceased’s family, who took him to Bihar. Our probe found many suspicious things which led us to the accused, who murdered the victim and tried to disguise it as an accidental death.”
The duo lived in a room in the Katargam area and were in a same-sex relationship. During one tryst, the accused shot a video, which the teenager did not like. Moreover, the accused also did not like his partner having relationships with other men. He threatened to kill the victim in the past and quarrelled in the presence of their roommates many times.
On Feb 8, when the 24-year-old was on night duty at the embroidery unit, the accused, who worked in a neighbouring factory, went there. Before his partner arrived, the victim switched off his mobile phone and hid it under the machine because he did not want to delete the video. When the accused insisted on handing over the phone to him to delete the video, the victim refused. The accused then allegedly strangled the victim with his gamchha (scarf) and set the body inside the machine in a manner that made it look like an accidental death.
“We found important evidence on the victim’s phone. We also found the accused’s movements suspicious in CCTV footage. The light on the stairs of the unit would always be on, but that night, someone switched it off. We connected the dots and sent a team to Bihar to nab the assailant, who went to the funeral of the victim as he was a close friend. We apprehended him and brought him to Surat. He confessed to the crime,” Chaudhary said.