Rajkot: What began as an online romance through Facebook and Instagram allegedly ended in the murder of a Bihar native near the city after the assailant discovered that the person who lured him on social media by posing as a woman was, in fact, a transgender person.On June 25, a decomposed body dressed in women’s clothing was found near Muskat Crossing in the Shapar-Veraval industrial area. Rajkot (rural) DSP Vijaysinh Gurjar said the forensic post-mortem revealed that the victim died due to severe head injuries.Using CCTV footage, technical surveillance and human intelligence, police traced the accused to 20-year-old Piyush Kumar Kharwar, a native of UP. During interrogation, Piyush allegedly confessed to the crime, revealing the sequence of events.Police said that while living in Hyderabad, Piyush came into contact with Chandan Kumar through a Facebook account under the name Nisha Kumar and an Instagram profile named Poonam. Chandan presented himself as a woman, gained Piyush’s trust and the two eventually began living together. Chandan reportedly avoided physical intimacy by citing a religious vow, and Piyush even accepted the relationship as a marriage by applying sindoor in Chandan’s hair parting.The relationship took a dramatic turn when Piyush allegedly discovered, while Chandan was shaving, that the latter was not a woman but a transgender person. From then on, frequent disputes erupted between the two. Piyush allegedly tried several times to end the relationship, arguing that a marital relationship between two men was not possible, but Chandan refused to accept the separation and continued following him wherever he went for work. Their association and disputes continued as they moved from Hyderabad to UP, Rajasthan and finally to Padvala near Rajkot city.Investigating officer R B Rana said that on June 21, the two had a heated argument at a factory in Padvala. Piyush later took Chandan to an isolated spot near a railway track and fatally smashed his head and other parts of the body with large stones. He covered the body with stones to conceal the crime before returning to the factory and resuming work as usual.A case has been registered against Piyush for murder based on the complaint filed by sub- inspector S R Pandya of Shapar-Veraval police station.
