A dog’s carcass, a 12-foot pit, and a daily phone call that stopped: The murder of a Jharkhand daughter

Like other parts of Jharkhand, dense forests flank this region although it is vastly different from the state’s typical tribal belt. The population, mostly non-Adivasi, is a mixed lot of Hindus and Muslims. Most houses are of bricks and concrete, though some mud houses still exist. All of them stand very close to each other.

One of these houses is a modest, half-built, single-storey structure. This is where Priyanka grew up with her two younger siblings – a sister and a brother. This is also where she got married in 2019 and moved to Bhokla tola, a small hamlet like hers, in Kauria village in Bishrampur block some 15 kilometres away. A common thread that ties both the settlements – Darua tola where Priyanka grew up and Bhokla tola where she got married – is the Banki river. Both villages run almost parallel along its banks.

Guddi Devi’s house where Priyanka was strangled to death. Guddi’s mother reached home after her daughter was taken into custody. (Express Photo)

When Anita did not hear from Priyanka for two days, she got anxious and asked Dwarika to find out if she was okay.

Three days later, as the New Year ushered in, Priyanka’s father Dwarika found himself standing on a field, in Tukbera village, around 35-40km from his home, watching a patch of soil being dug inch by inch, silently praying against the worst. After a few minutes, the workers’ tools hit upon something: It was the carcass of a dog.

For a brief moment, it seemed his worst fears didn’t come true. Dwarika was in two minds. He looked at the pit and then asked the workers to dig deeper. A human leg emerged. Dwarika informed the police.

It has been weeks since Priyanka’s body was found but this is all that the residents of Darua tola talk about. In fact, the murder of this young woman has shocked the entire area.

As Dwarika, sitting outside his home, begins narrating the story of his 25-year-old daughter, a number of villagers start converging at the spot. Anita briefly joins them before disappearing inside the house, leaving Dwarika to continue with Priyanka’s tragic story.

There’s a shortcut behind Ranjit’s farm that goes to Bishrampur. After Priyanka was forcibly made to smell a liquid substance, she was expected to be taken via this route in two wheelers. (Express Photo)

“She (Priyanka) was very sincere about her studies. She cleared her Intermediate with a first division and enrolled in a BA course. But we married her off soon after she turned 18. We just wanted her to have a happy and secure life,” says Dwarika.

In this region, it is common to marry girls off as soon as they reach adulthood. Dwarika describes his daughter as a diminutive – she was a little over five feet tall – young woman with a simple, pleasant appearance.

He says she was soft-spoken, ever-smiling, and even tempered. A young boy, not more than five, joins in.

“Ranjitwa ne maara hai… (It was Ranjit who did it),” he goes.

“This is Aryan: Priyanka’s son,” explains Dwarika. “He is a spitting image of her. A ditto face,” he remarks.

And Ranjit? “That’s Priyanka’s husband,” says Dwarika.

Wedding in blood

It was not like Priyanka’s marriage was fraught from the very beginning, Dwarika tells The Indian Express. In fact, during the brief conversation they had before their marriage was fixed, Priyanka had asked for Ranjit’s support in continuing her education. “Ranjit agreed and even helped her fill out forms and secure admission at a college several kilometres away. He would often drop her to the college and pick her up after the classes,” says Dwarika.

A few years after marriage, though, Priyanka and Ranjit’s relationship started to sour.

In the village of Bhokhla, Ranjit’s mud house stands silently now after the case. (Express Photo)

First came the dowry demands. “We had given approximately Rs 3 lakh besides household essentials at the time of marriage. But she was pressured to bring a car, gold chain, and additional money,” says Dwarika. There were also instances of “torture”. “They would lock her up inside the rooms. At other times, she was thrown out of the house for days,” he says.

Priyanka would often return to her parents, only to go back to Ranjit, 27, later.

Things got worse a few years ago when Ranjit, a carpenter, met Guddi Devi – a mother of three. The two had met at a wedding where they were introduced by a relative of Guddi, now 41.

Priyanka sensed something was up when Ranjit started staying out late for days on end. There were also repeated calls from the same unknown number.

A video, circulated widely across villages in the region, confirmed Priyanka’s suspicions. It showed Ranjit being stripped, tied up, and roughed up by a man in public. It was Guddi’s brother. “He had caught him at Guddi’s house in Tukbera,” says Dwarika. At that time, Priyanka was staying with her parents. “My daughter was happy to see the video. She said this is what he deserves,” says Dwarika.

But there was one thing Priyanka was still clear about: She wanted to stay in the marriage.

“We advised her to leave Ranjit but she would always tell us: ‘my sasural is my only home. I will not leave it, even if I die there’,” Dwarika recalls, shuddering at how her words came true.

Dwarika, who works as a welder in a mining project in Korba, Chhattisgarh, says he had to send some money to Priyanka every month because she was being denied food by Ranjit’s family.

Priyanka Devi’s mother Anita Devi. (Express Photo)

“She had to work as a labourer in other people’s fields just to survive,” says Dwarika.

In July 2024, the Jharkhand government started the Maiya Samman Yojana providing for a monthly payment of Rs 1,000 to eligible women. “That amount became a crucial support for her since Ranjit would not give her anything,” says Poonam Devi, the head of the village where Priyanka’s parents live.

“She was beaten up regularly,” says Priyanka’s mother. “Many a times, village meetings were called and compromises were made. But nothing changed. He would come home drunk and beat her again.”

Once, Priyanka had even gone to the police and filed a domestic violence complaint against Ranjit. But he apologised and promised to fix his ways. For some time, it looked like their marriage was on the mend.

“They even celebrated Chhath Puja together in November. But clearly, beneath the façade, something was going on,” says Anita.

Both Priyanka’s and Ranjit’s families belong to the Koeri caste, a sub-category within the broader Mahato social grouping, which falls under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) — a significant demographic after Kurmis in Jharkhand. “We come from the line of the great king Asoka from the Mauryan Dynasty,” says Priyanka’s uncle, Baijnath.

Residents of this belt now survive on irregular daily wage work and small-time farming. Economic pressures have pushed younger generations toward daily wage labour and contract work, they say. Their shared geography (in villages along the Banki), language (Magadhi), and economic vulnerability makes them a close-knit bunch, where everyone is aware of the other’s business. Ranjit and Guddi’s affair was no exception.

Priyanka Devi’s father Dwarika Mehta (41). (Express Photo)

On December 31, three days after Priyanka was reported missing, police received a tip-off that her body might be buried near Guddi Devi’s village, Tukbera, in Nawabazar block.

“A search operation was conducted by the police on December 31 but nothing was found. The following day, villagers took it upon themselves to resume digging around the site and found the body. A dog was also found buried in the same pit,” says a police officer.

It was, in no way, an easy task for the villagers who had arranged for an earthmover to dig up the pit. Since water had collected in the pit overnight, they had to first use a motor pump to drain it out before proceeding with the job.

What the digging threw up led to further questions: How did Priyanka’s body travel all the way to Guddi Devi’s village? Whose dog was it? Why was it killed and buried in the same pit as Priyanka?

The buried truth

The plan to eliminate Priyanka was set in motion within weeks of Chhath Puja.

On December 15, Priyanka had a fight with her mother-in-law Basanti Devi. The next day, Ranjit allegedly told his mother that Priyanka would have to go, say police.

Ranjit called up Guddi and informed her about the plan: Priyanka would be killed and buried in Guddi’s village. A pit needed to be dug somewhere. Guddi knew just the spot, and the man to do it. She contacted Nandlal Vishwakarma, aka Nandu, who owned a JCB, and asked him to dig a pit near her agricultural field – 100-150 metres from her house. She informed Nandu she needed the pit for irrigation purposes, say police.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Nandu says he sent his JCB operator to the spot on December 18 to dig a pit.

Ranjit’s mother, Basanti Devi (left), is helping her daughter-in-law, Urmila Devi (right), in making ‘Thekua’ to deliver it to Daltonganj jail for Ranjit and Sunil. (Express Photo)

December 22 onwards, Guddi began calling him again, saying she needed another pit since the previous one was “too shallow”. On December 29, Nandu’s operator went there again and dug another pit – this one around 10 to 12 feet deep.

According to Bishrampur police, three contract killers were initially hired by Ranjit’s family to kill Priyanka. They demanded Rs 4 lakh for the job. To arrange the money, Ranjit’s father, Rajkesh, allegedly sold a portion of his land, say police. “The total land sold was about eight kattha (around 13,00 square feet) at around Rs 50,000 per kattha. However, initially only Rs 50,000 was received,” says Rishikesh Dubey, the investigating officer.

“Later, the deal was renegotiated. The final amount agreed upon was around Rs 40,000. This was when one of the hired men backed out,” says Dubey, who is the Bishrampur police station incharge. Only two men, Lala Chouhan and Govind Kumar Chouhan, agreed to proceed with the plan, he adds.

Then came December 28, the day Priyanka was supposed to be killed.

Ranjit had deployed Sunil Kumar, his nephew, to keep an eye on Priyanka inside the house.

Around 10pm, as Priyanka went to bed, Ranjit and his other nephew, Mukesh, entered the house, say police.

Investigators say a “taral padaarth (liquid substance)” was used to render Priyanka unconscious. It was purchased by Guddi from a private clinic, an official shares, without revealing what exactly the substance was.

As Priyanka fainted, Ranjit and Mukesh placed her between them on a motorcycle and left for Guddi’s village where, police say, Basanti Devi, was also present. Priyanka was held by multiple people and a muffler used to strangle her to death, say police.

Guddi’s husband Guddu, who was in Odisha for work at the time of the murder, refuses to believe his wife had anything to do with it and points the finger at Nandu. Their daughter Kajal Kumari says she was supposed to get married soon. The talks have been called off now, she shares softly. “Why should I suffer for my mother’s fault?” she asks.

Ranjit had deployed Sunil Kumar, his nephew, to keep an eye on Priyanka inside the house. (Express Photo)

Vinod Vishwakarma, village head, throws some light on how a dog came about to share a grave with Priyanka. “It was Guddi’s dog. He was barking throughout the night. Guddi then poisoned him,” he says. After burying Priyanka, Guddi and Ranjit decided to bury the dog in the same pit. “This was done to mislead anyone who might complain of a foul smell later,” Vinod adds.

How did the murder come to light?

Vinod Vishwakarma, village head, says Guddi, besieged by fear and guilt, informed Shree Mehta, an old acquaintance, about the murder. “She called me in a very tense voice and asked if I could help her. Then she told me everything,” Shree, 45, tells The Indian Express.

For a couple of days, Shree kept the information to himself. But as the search for Priyanka intensified, he informed village head Vinod who alerted Poonam, his counterpart in Priyanka’s maternal village.

At Ranjit’s home, his sister Urmila is preparing thekua — a traditional sweet snack made in Jharkhand and Bihar during festive occasions. It is for Ranjit, currently lodged in Daltonganj jail, she says. Her voice turns bitter when asked about Priyanka. “She had fought with her mother-in-law and hit her on the stomach with a stick a couple of days before the incident,” she claims.

A narrow dirt-track, accessible only by two-wheelers, runs from their field towards Bishrampur. When asked whether Ranjit had taken Priyanka via the same route, Urmila and Basanti, Ranjit’s mother, say they have no idea what happened that night.

Bansanti says she was in Ranchi with Ranjit for her treatment. Both women refused to recognise Guddi.

Apart from Urmila and Basanti, the FIR names Bablu and Sunil (Ranjit’s nephews), Rajkesh, Nandlal, Guddi, Mithlesh (Ranjit’s friend), Ranjit, and Urmila’s husband, Upendra. Ranjit, Bablu, Sunil, Guddi, and Upendra are behind bars.

Residents of Priyanka’s village say they are planning to stage a protest, alleging that the police are gradually letting the accused go free due to the “family’s influence”. (Express Photo)

Dubey says the other five are yet to be arrested due to lack of any “concrete evidence” against them at this stage. “The investigation is still underway. The two contract killers were also arrested,” he says.

Residents of Priyanka’s village say they are planning to stage a protest, alleging that the police are gradually letting the accused go free due to the “family’s influence”.

Says Priyanka’s father Dwarika, “I will continue to fight and ensure that my daughter gets justice.”

Priyanka’s uncle Baijnath says that traditionally, a woman who dies after marriage is cremated at her in-laws’ village. “But no one from Ranjit’s village gave firewood to Priyanka’s father-in-law for her last rites. That is when we decided to perform her cremation in our own village, where she was born…”

As the evening wears on, Anita drifts in and out of the courtyard, listening to fragments of conversations about her daughter. She says that everything reminds her of Priyanka. She still shudders at the sight of her daughter’s lifeless body in the pit.

“She was wearing the same woollen sweater that she used to don in the winters,” she says.