In a chilling case from Gujarat’s Porbandar, the police have arrested a woman, her mother and her partner for allegedly killing and burying a premature newborn within hours of birth in the fourth such exhumation of human remains in the state in a week.
The Madhavpur police arrested Jagruti Mulu Vaja, her mother Dudhi Mulu Vaja, and her cousin Hitesh Khima Daki, the child’s alleged biological father, on May 5 following a complaint by Jagruti’s estranged husband, Vipul Kana Vasan.
This is the fourth such exhumation in a week in Gujarat and the 11th instance of murder victims’ remains being recovered in the state over the past seven months.
A estranged husband’s complaint
The case came to light after Vipul Vasan, 32, a sharecropper from Mander village, learned that his estranged wife had given birth and had named him as the father despite the couple being separated for two years. Vasan married Jagruti in 2017 and they have an eight-year-old son.
His complaint prompted a preliminary inquiry, which led the police to uncover the alleged crime.
The FIR states that on April 22, Vipul learned from his mother that Jagruti had given birth to another son. His mother, in turn, had heard this from a neighbour during a visit to a temple in Mander village.
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When Vasan made his own inquiries, he found that Jagruti had indeed delivered a baby boy at a Community Health Centre, and had falsely named him as the father despite them having no contact for two years. He then approached the police with a complaint.
The Madhavpur Police said they made a diary entry and began a preliminary inquiry into the case.
According to investigators, the child was born prematurely on April 20 at a Community Health Centre and was later referred to a government facility in Porbandar city due to medical complications.
“We found that the child was born at a CHC about 4 am on April 20 and was admitted to Sri Rupadiba Lady Hospital in Porbandar at 6.30 am. Twelve hours later, the mother took Discharge Against Medical Advice (DAMA) with the excuse of going to a private hospital,” Inspector Divyaraj Chauhan, the Investigation Officer (IO) of the case, told The Indian Express.
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The police said Jagruti, her mother Dudhi, and her partner Hitesh took the infant to Oddar village, about 10 km south of Porbandar along the coast, while returning home to Mander. “It was there that they allegedly killed the child and buried him in a two-foot-deep grave,” the investigating officer said.
They then went to Mander village, around 46 km further south of Oddar.
Forensic evidence, phone details
The three were called in for questioning on April 30. “They confessed to the crime and told us of the location where they had buried the body. We went there with an executive magistrate and exhumed the remains. We found bones wrapped in a shawl. They were dispatched for a forensic examination,” said Chauhan.
By May 2, forensic experts confirmed to the police that the remains they had exhumed in Oddar village were human bones. The FSL Gandhinagar report on DNA analysis to be matched with the blood of the child’s parents is still pending, said the police.
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Meanwhile, the police claim to have found some phone recordings with conversations related to the conspiracy to kill the child.
“The accused confessed to the strangulation of the child, but since marks cannot be found due to the decomposed state of the remains, the cause of death cannot be opined on at the moment.”
The three accused have been booked on May 4 under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections for murder, criminal conspiracy, destruction of evidence and misleading the police. They were arrested a day later and produced before a court on May 6.
The police said further investigation is underway.
10 other recent cases
1. Mehsana Police on May 4, dug up the body of a woman and her 2-year-old daughter killed 6 months ago by her husband, who allegedly died by suicide in Vadnagar.
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2. The Ahmedabad City police on April 29 unearthed remains of what is believed to be the body of a young woman, Farzana alias Shabnam, who was allegedly killed in 1992 by her husband in the Vatva area of the city.
3. The Surat City police on April 28 recovered the body of dietician Shilpa Salvi, who had been killed and buried with cement in a wooden box allegedly by her husband.
4. The Kutch (West) police found the bodies of Nathi alias Sonu Raja Rabari and her boyfriend Naveen Jiva Rabari, dumped into a well on March 13, in an alleged honour killing by the woman’s family.
5. Mehsana Police on March 25, found the body of 60-year-old Sharda Thakor in a shallow grave in a lemon orchard in Indrad village, allegedly killed by thieves who stole Rs4.40 lakh worth of jewellery from her person.
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6. The Morbi police found the body of businessman Tajmohahhmad Bhatti on February 27 from an abandoned factory, which had been burned and buried after his alleged murder by extended relatives over a land and financial dispute.
7. On December 9, 2025, Kutch (West) police booked a man for killing his friend Ramesh Puja Maheshwari over a love triangle, chopping up his body and disposing of the parts in different wells in a farm.
8. The Bhavnagar police on November 17, 2025, arrested an Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) for allegedly murdering his wife, Nayana Khambhla, his daughter and his son, weighing the bodies with stones and putting them in the 6-foot graves filled with water, blankets and sand.
9. Ahmedabad City police on November 5, 2025, recovered the remains of a migrant, Sameer Bihari, who had been allegedly killed and buried under the kitchen floor of his own home in the Fatewadi area by his wife and her lover.
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10. The Vadodara City police on November 24, 2025, exhumed the body of Irshad Banjara, who had been allegedly strangulated by his wife, who then hurriedly carried out his final rites and buried him, leading to suspicion of a crime and arrest.
