PC : Zee News - India.Com

On the morning of October 9, 2015, residents of Sukhsagar Nagar in Pune's Katraj area were stunned when they saw an elderly man walking with a woman's severed head in one hand and an axe in the other. One of them informed the police control room while others took photos and recorded videos on their phones. The video of the man walking with the severed head went viral, creating a sensation in the city.

A motorcyclist informed a traffic policeman on duty nearby, following which the man was arrested and traffic policemen V K Kumkar, D N Jagtap and Bhalchandra Tanwar reached the spot. Assistant police inspector Sanjay Chavan and constables Rahul Kadam and Mukund Pawar, who were patrolling the area, also reached the spot and asked him to surrender. After the man placed the woman's head and the axe on the ground, the policemen caught him and brought him to the Bharati Vidyapeeth police station. They later sent the woman's body to the hospital for post-mortem.

During interrogation, the man identified himself as Ramchandra Sheu Chavan (then 53 years old) and said that the head he was holding was that of his wife Sonabai Chavan, aged around 45 years. According to police investigation, Chavan, a native of Gulbarga in Karnataka, had been living in Pune for the last 40 years and worked as a watchman at Oswal Plot near Ganga Ocean Park in Sukhsagar Nagar. Chavan lived at Oswal Plot with his wife, sons Rajesh and Umesh, daughter-in-law Sunita and two grandsons. His two daughters were married and lived outside Pune.

He said Chavan allegedly killed his wife with an axe as he suspected her of having an affair with a family member. On the day of the murder, after his sons left for work, Chavan allegedly had a quarrel with Sonabai. When the quarrel escalated, he allegedly locked his daughter-in-law and grandsons in the house and attacked Sonabai with an axe. He allegedly beheaded her, picked it up and the axe and walked towards Rajesh Society in the area, police said.

They arrested Chavan under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for her murder. They also invoked Section 498 (seducing and abducting a married woman with the intent that she may have illicit relationship with another person) of the IPC against him. Her daughter-in-law lodged a First Information Report (FIR) at the Bharati Vidyapeeth police station.

They recorded statements of his family members and eyewitnesses who saw him carrying his wife's head. Chavan, who had no previous criminal record, allegedly killed her in the spur of the moment, police said. When police produced him in a Pune court to take him into custody for further investigation, a group of women tried to attack him. But police shifted him to another place.

In January 2016, the police filed a chargesheet against Chavan in a Pune magistrate court. Citing the post-mortem report, the police claimed that Sonabai had 26 wounds on her body and said Chavan attacked her multiple times and then beheaded her.

Chavan pleaded innocent before the court, saying he did not kill his wife. He is still in jail. Defence lawyer Sangram Kolhatkar said, "The case is pending before the court. We have examined more than 20 witnesses. Police witnesses are yet to be examined..."