Punjab Newsline | Chandigarh
A district court on Tuesday sentenced Chandigarh serial killer Monu Kumar to life imprisonment in the rape and murder case of a 60-year-old woman, marking the third life term imposed to him for crimes involving sexual assault and murder.
The case dates back to 2024, when the victim was allegedly raped and murdered. During the investigation, police linked Monu Kumar to the crime. Following his arrest, he confessed to the killing along with two other rape-murder cases that had remained under investigation.
Monu Kumar first came to the attention of investigators in connection with the 2010 rape and murder of a 21-year-old MBA student. The victim’s body was recovered near Sector 38 in Chandigarh. Despite years of investigation, police were unable to identify the culprit and eventually filed an untraced report in court. However, the case remained open and investigators continued to pursue leads.
A major breakthrough came last year when police suspected Kumar, a resident of Shahpur Colony near Daddumajra. His DNA sample was matched with preserved forensic evidence from the MBA student’s murder, conclusively linking him to the crime. He was subsequently arrested, charges were filed, and a court later sentenced him to life imprisonment in the case.
During interrogation, Kumar also confessed to the rape and murder of a 40-year-old woman from Maloya in 2022. The victim, the wife of an auto-rickshaw driver, had gone to a local market on the night of January 11, 2022, but never returned home. Her body was found the following day near her residence. Further investigation established Kumar’s involvement, leading to another life sentence along with a fine of ₹1 lakh.
With Tuesday’s verdict, Monu Kumar has now been handed three separate life imprisonment sentences for rape and murder cases spanning more than a decade, reinforcing his notoriety as one of the region’s most dangerous serial offenders.
