Bodies sent to Alipurduar for post mortem

Rajesh Rai  | Phuentsholing

Jaigaon police had arrested two men yesterday evening in connection to the brutal murder of two Bhutanese women in Jaigaon.

Although Kuensel couldn’t confirm independently with Jaigaon police, sources in Jaigaon claim that the murder could be a result of a blackmail and revenge scheme. The two men are suspected of being involved.

The bodies of the two women, a 22-year-old from Lokchina, Chukha and 26-year-old from Chuzergang, Sarpang were found at Mechey Basti in Jaigaon early morning yesterday by the locals. One of the deceased is suspected of being raped and murdered. Bodies of both the victims have been sent to Alipurduar for post mortem.

The 22-year-old victim from Lokchina had worked in a parlour in Phuentsholing prior to the lockdown. A Logchina resident said that her father is in the village. He has been informed.

“She was taken away as a babysitter a long time ago, when she was still a child,” he said, adding that the individual who took her also had enrolled her in a school. She had studied until class nine.

The villager said that he once heard she was married to a man across the border. Phuentsholing police also found that the 22-year-old had contacted her former employer in Chukha back on March 16 from the Chinese Lane in Jaigaon.

The superintendent of police (SP) in Phuentsholing, Colonel Namgay Dorji said the police contacted the woman (employer) and confirmed this.  

“The victim often asked for money from her former employer to pay her house rents. The victim shared a close relationship with her employer and she often helped her,” he said.

The other victim, the 26-year-old woman from Chuzergang, Sarpang had worked in a drayang in Phuentsholing two years ago. She was once married to a man from Totapara, across the border but was divorced. She then married a Bhutanese man, but also divorced him.

In September 2019, she was also arrested for possession of 13 Spasmoproxyvon (SP+) and was sent for counselling. Both her parents have expired and her sister has been informed.

SP Colonel Namgay Dorji said that they are collaborating with the counterpart police officials to ascertain the cause of the death.

“Counterpart officials said the victims didn’t have a permanent house,” he said.

The victims, however, had been living in Jaigaon even after the gate closure on March 23 and the lockdown in Jaigaon on March 25.