Bareilly ‘serial killer’ arrested after nine women murdered in 14 months: Police

The man who allegedly carried out the recent ‘serial killings’ in Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh, with nine women murdered over 14 months, was arrested on Friday, police said.
Addressing a press conference, the police identified the accused as Kuldeep, a resident of Nawabganj police station limits in Bareilly, according to The Times of India. The arrest came three days after the police released a sketch each of three suspects based on eye-witness descriptions.
The killings took place under the Shahi-Sheeshgah area, in a radius of 25 kilometres under two police stations. The victims were in the age group of 45 to 55, and were found strangled with their own sarees, while their bodies were discovered in the fields around noon.
Also, while their clothes were disheveled, there were no signs of sexual assault, as per a previous statement by the police.
The nine victims of the ‘serial killer’ were Kalavati (found dead on June 5, 2023), Dhanwati (June 19), Premwati (June 30), Kusma (July 22), Viravati (August 23), Mahmoodan (October 31), Dularo Devi (November 20), Urmila (November 26), and Anita Devi (July 3, 2024).
Their bodies were found in Kulchha, Anandpur, Kajuria, Seva Jwalapur, Lakhimpur, Kharsaini, Jagdishpur, and Hauspur villages, respectively.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the National Commission for Women (NCW) took suo motu congisance of the matter, and sought a detailed action taken report from the Uttar Pradesh Police.
“The NCW is deeply disturbed by reports of nine women murdered in Bareilly, UP, over 14 months. The commission strongly condemns these heinous crimes and have directed authorities to expedite the investigation and arrest the suspects swiftly,” the commission wrote on its handle on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter.