Accused irate at her refusal to return to their native country stabbed her to death, then tried to flee Mumbai
A Bangladeshi man stabbed his wife to death for refusing to abandon her profession as a sex worker there and return to their homeland.
Early Wednesday morning, accused Imamul Sajan Shaikh, 38, tried to flee India, but was nabbed outside Pune Junction that afternoon.
The arrest was made based on a complaint filed by Farashkhana police station havaldar Kiran Ramchandra Kadam, who’d been called to the scene of the crime by the Shaikhs’ neighbours. Confessing to the crime, the accused recounted the sequence of events and also admitted that he was trying to get to Mumbai, before heading to Kolkata and then across the border.
The Bangladeshi couple had migrated to Mumbai, the most populous city in India, 18 years ago to escape their impoverished life back home. In Mumbai, Imamul was a construction worker and wife Meena Gabbar Kazi Shaikh a homemaker. They had two children. A year and a half ago, guided by Meena’s friend, they made the move to Pune so she could enter “the flesh trade”. While doing so, they sent the children away to live in Bangladesh and took residence at Sagar, a building in Budhwar Peth.
Imamul was unhappy with the turn of events and kept urging his wife to give up her work and go back home with him. She was unwilling, given that there was no source of livelihood they could go back to. During their stay in Pune, she made good money, while Imamul had no sustained employment. Worse, he was an alcoholic and essentially lived off her income.
While the couple was already at odds over this, things got a bit more intense preceding Eid. Meena reportedly gave money to Imamul to buy new clothes, but he blew it up on drinks and demanded more. Enraged, Meena pointed out that she was keeping the money to send home for Eid. “I can’t tolerate your bad habits anymore,” she declared. Imamul retorted that she’d changed since taking up the new profession and pressed her again to go back to their native land.
After this altercation at midnight, Meena went off to service a client. Once done, she called her husband to make some scrambled eggs for her. Imamul was chopping onions for the dish, when Meena arrived. He again launched into an attempt to convince her to move back with him to Bangladesh.
In the argument that ensued, Imamul flew into rage and slit her throat before slapping her twice. When she fell to the ground he continued stabbing her on the chest and abdomen.
At the time, Imamul was wearing a pair of Bermudas and a T-shirt, but quickly collected his pants and shirt and fled the scene. Neighbors, who came to the house alerted by the shouts, called up Shukrawar Peth police chowky, from where Faraskhana PS was informed. Meena’s body was sent to Sassoon General Hospitals for a post-mortem after cops arrived at the spot.
Meanwhile, Imamul, with his escape planned, arrived at Shivajinagar railway station in the hope of catching a train to Mumbai, only to learn that no train to the metropolis goes through that station. So, he walked along the tracks to reach Pune railway station. Here as well, he was in for disappointment, as all trains had been canceled. Emerging from the station, he was trying to catch a bus to Mumbai when cops caught up with him.
Senior police inspector at Faraskhana PS, Kishor Navande, said, “Our team led by police sub-inspector Pratiksha Shendge was tracking him, using his mobile location. Guided by her inputs, constables Shankar Khumbhar, Mahavir Valate and Vikas Borade reached him near Pune Junction.”
Pune Mirror
