NEW DELHI: It begins as it always does. A random look over a room, that brief moment when eyes connect and all else disappears. Late-night texts, words with promises. The romantic whispers of “forever” in the night, visions of futures together, lives intertwined. But sometimes, forever isn’t enough. Sometimes, forever ends in a zipped-up body bag – some chopped, some torched, some frozen.Across India, 2025 has seen a gruesome string of murders where wives and their lovers are allegedly turning executioners, transforming homes into horror scenes.
In Meerut, Saurabh Rajput was chopped, stuffed in a blue plastic drum, and buried in cement. His wife and her lover reportedly watched him die.In Bijnor, a man was strangled, his wife pinned him down, and her lover crushed his throat. Reason? He didn’t want to move.
In Auraiya, two weeks into marriage, the husband was lured, ambushed, and dumped like trash.In Jaipur, a man was burned alive. Flesh melted, and smoke choked the room. His crime? Questioning infidelity.In Korba, a woman confessed to stabbing her husband multiple times. She claimed abuse, but the scene was soaked in rage—blood on walls, a body left in fury.
These murders echo an earlier case in Delhi, where Shraddha Walkar’s dismembered remains were found stuffed in a fridge by her live-in partner. A similar horror played out months later in Munirka, where a woman’s body was chopped up and left to rot by her partner.There’s no one pattern, no clear trigger. But there’s always a simmer. A slow erosion. A point where love curdles into control, affection turns into obsession, and murder feels like the only exit.“People are not coming in time to seek advice and help. By the time they do, it’s often too late,” mental wellness experts said unequivocally.They have seen the breakdown happen up close – from honeymoon to homicide.
“There is rising infidelity, emotional neglect, and extramarital affairs. By the time couples come for therapy, the relationship has deteriorated to a point of no return,” said Dr Sameer Malhotra, head of mental health and behavioral sciences at Max Healthcare.It’s no longer just women who are speaking up. “Many men come in crying. Some attempt suicide. Some are completely broken, manipulated, or threatened with legal action. They’re unable to function at work, having emotional breakdowns in the office.”And when people choose to kill others, it’s not necessarily on the spur of the moment. Sometimes it’s horrifyingly deliberate.“For some, the cause is longstanding anger, frustration, and neglect. For others, it’s sadism, psychopathic traits, control, and domination. There’s a complete lack of remorse,” Dr Malhotra said.
Experts collectively testified, when someone kills a partner and hides the body, it reflects emotional coldness and the need to erase the person. These acts are not just about fear—they’re about complete annihilation. They said the person might be involved in careful planning — how to dispose of the body, stuff it in a bag, burn it beyond recognition. These aren’t crimes of passion anymore. It’s a calculation.Rashi Sahai, a clinical psychologist, Max Super Specialty Hospital, is seeing the same pattern emerge.“Such killings are often the product of unresolved trauma, emotional neglect, or a broken sense of self. It’s not spontaneous. It builds. And then it shatters,” she said.Sahai lists the red flags. Four D’s that nearly always appear prior to it being too late:
- Danger – the individual might injure themselves or another person
- Deviance – their actions violate social conventions in jarring ways
- Dysfunction – they are no longer able to operate normally
- Distress – there’s profound pain they can’t verbalize or flee from
But even when they’re apparent, few take them seriously.Dr Kirti, a clinical psychologist, said what drives someone to commit violence is disturbingly simple: “Punishment is immediate. It offers instant gratification. Walking away takes emotional maturity, and most don’t have it.”
For many people, violence appears as justice. Particularly when they feel control is slipping.“A wife asserting independence, or a husband cheating, it shakes their core. It becomes about humiliation. Retaliation.”Men and women kill differently, Dr Kirti explained. Generally, not always, “Men tend to kill for power, for entitlement, and for humiliation. Women kill when they are threatened, desperate, or have suffered years of abuse.”And yet, society largely overlooks the male victims — men emotionally battered, manipulated, or shattered behind closed doors.Dr Malhotra is adamant: “Rights come with responsibilities. Men are suffering in silence, and that silence is exploding.”So what can be done?“Couples should be counselled, yes,” said Sahai, “but it must be supportive, not punitive. Otherwise, it won’t work.”“We need to teach people emotional control, conflict resolution, not merely math and science,” said Dr Malhotra. “There’s a vacuum of coping skills.”Love’s not meant to be lethal. But in Indian homes across this country, too often it’s becoming a risky game. A game where defeat in an argument might equal the loss of life.“People don’t listen anymore. They don’t try to understand. Relationships are transactional now, not emotional,” Dr Malhotra said.The question is no longer why someone was killed. It’s why no one saw it coming.
