The Indian ‘Jack the Ripper’ | Raman Raghav
In the late ‘60s, dead bodies started piling up on the streets of Bombay (now Mumbai). These people ranged from slum dwellers to stray animals. Anyone without a proper home was a victim. People lived in fear. No one knew who was doing this and why. Bombay, which was the ‘city that never sleeps’, was put to bed.
A homeless man named Raman Raghav was responsible for this. Every night, when the streets were empty, Raman would emerge from the woods with his iron rod and hammer the life out of anything that moved- from stray animals to men, women- even infants. To him, people weren't people, they were ‘objects from an opposite faction that he could smash and curb with blunt objects’. From 1965 to 1966, up to 19 people were attacked by Raman along the Central Railway Line. Some of the people who were lucky enough to come across but survive from Raman reported this to police and soon there were more than 2000 police officers, roaming around the streets, trying to find the person who was responsible for the murders. Meanwhile, Raman was still roaming around the streets, looking for his next victim. He had actually been picked up by the police once, because he looked suspicious and he had a history with the police (he had spent five years in prison for robbery), but was let go due to lack of evidence.
In 1968, Raman struck again and this time, he was successfully caught after police launched a huge manhunt for him. He was taken in after a sub-inspector of police, named Alex Fialho, recognized Raghav from obtained reports when he was walking around the streets aimlessly. He was holding an umbrella and his clothes were soaked in blood. He also had a pair of glasses, two combs, a pair of scissors, a stand for burning incense, soap, garlic, tea dust and two pieces of paper with some mathematical figures in his possession. His fingerprints also matched with those on record and it was confirmed that Raman Raghav was the one responsible for the chaos that had been happening for the past years. He was soon arrested.
The police needed more answers from Raman. They wanted to know all about the murders that he had committed, so they sent interrogators to him. No amount of questioning, interrogating or torture methods would get any answers out of him though. Finally, one day when the interrogators casually asked him if there was something that he really wanted, he said chicken. They got him a plate of chicken curry and after he was done eating, he told them everything. Raman confessed to killing 41 people but it is believed that the number is much higher. He also stated in his confession that he was instructed by ‘God’ to commit the crimes. He was then sent to the Police Surgeon, Mumbai, who observed him and then stated their opinion that, "The accused is neither suffering from psychosis nor mentally retarded. His memory is sound, his intelligence average and [he] is aware of the nature and purpose of his acts. He is able to understand the nature and object of the proceedings against him and [is] not certifiably insane." With that medical opinion, the trial continued, Raman pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death.
But then, before the trial had ended, a psychiatrist of Nair Hospital, Mumbai was cited as a defense witness. He gave evidence that Raman suffered from Chronic paranoid schizophrenia for a long time and was therefore unable to understand that his actions were contrary to law. His sentence was reduced to life imprisonment and was lodged at Yerwada Central Jail, Pune, where he was under treatment at the Central Institute of Mental Health and Research. It was deemed that he would never be cured. On April 7, 1995, Raman Raghav died after kidney failure, under police custody.
This case really scared me. Can you believe that there can be people who view others as nothing more then mere objects? That is so freaking terrifying. I am glad that Raman finally got caught before he had the chance to hurt more people. That's about all I have to say about this case, but let me know what you think. As always, stay safe and don't forget the pepper spray. Stay alive. Bye!