Jesuit College In India Dealing With Campus Murder By Beheading

Bijendra Kumar alias Golu, 23, an engineering diploma student of Jamshedpur, severed the head of his girlfriend Khusbu, 18, with a sharp weapon on April 27 in St. Xaviers college in Ranchi. Though security of educational institutions is the responsibility of the respective institute managements, but given the circumstances, the matter should be treated differently, director general of police G. S. Rath said. College students have denied security lapse on the part of the college, saying the assailant could have fled had the authorities not been efficient. College principal Fr. Nicolas Tete, S.J. said that despite complete restriction on entry of outsiders to the college campus, guardians were allowed to enter and sit inside the premises because of ongoing intermediate examinations. “Besides, some of the examinees appearing for the exams are mothers and they come with their kids, some of them infants. Unless we allow either the husband or some other guardian to be there in the campus with the baby, how is the examinee supposed to feed the baby,” he said. 

Meanwhile, police may face problems while filing a chargesheet against Khusbu’s killer as the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the college, particularly the one that monitored the examination hall where the victim was killed, were switched off at 4pm, almost an hour before the incident. Fingerprints on the murder weapon - a khukuri - have been inadvertently tampered with. 

A constable, who reached the spot before the forensic team, apparently picked up the blood-soaked weapon, disturbing vital evidence against the killer. However, investigating officer Shravan Shukla said these were minor glitches. Since Bijendra had confessed to his crime and college guard Mahavir Kachchap was ready to appear witness in the case, drawing up a chargesheet and building a strong case against the killer wouldn’t be difficult, he added. “We have a gamut of circumstantial evidence like the victim’s blood-stained bag. Besides blood samples collected from the spot and found on the murder weapon will establish the victim’s identity. The witness account and self-admission of crime before the chief judicial magistrate has already established the man behind the murder,” Shukla said.

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