UP Serial Killer Nabbed; Said He 'Hated' Women After Abuse By Stepmom

Nine women have been found murdered over 14 months in a rural patch of Bareilly district, prompting the police to suspect that the crimes were linked to a serial killer. The bodies of the victims were found in similar conditions as well-- with their clothes dishevelled and in rags, but with no sign of sexual abuse. Almost all of the women were reportedly choked using the sarees they were wearing, according to WION. The victims also fell into the same age group, that is, between the ages of 45 and 55. 

Killer Said He 'Hated' Women

After over a year of investigation, the suspect was nabbed on August 8. Kuldeep Kumar Gangwar, 38, told the police that he killed the nine women and kept the personal assets of the victims as a ‘trophy’. Among the items the investigators found after his arrest, were identity cards, bindis, and lipsticks belonging to victims.

“We have arrested a psycho killer accused of targeting around nine women under Bareilly Shahi and Shishgarh police circle between June 2023 and July 2024. We formed 22 teams and launched operation ‘Talaash’ to track him down,” said Bareilly senior superintendent of police Anurag Arya.

The police linked the accused's psychology to his troubled childhood, marked by his father’s remarriage and the physical abuse by his stepmother. "He developed much hate and anger for his stepmother and other women,” an anonymous officer told News18, adding that the accused will undergo a mental health test.

Background of the case

The murders began around June of last year. These continued until the end of 2023, with 8 women falling victim to the attacks by November. This created widespread panic among the villagers, after which the two police stations that fall under this district began an investigation. The three suspects were arrested and the murders subsequently ceased to occur for several months after that.

As per a report by The Times of India, Uttar Pradesh Director-General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar said that they had the sketches of three suspects, based on leads. ''Our teams have been investigating this case for six months and have not ruled out the possibility of a serial killer due to the nearly identical modus operandi of the murders,'' he said.

However, on July 3, 2024, another woman in the same district, with an identical modus operandi, was discovered murdered in a sugarcane farm in the Shahi Sheeshgarh area of the Bareilly district. Seven months after the initial killing spree, officials were still unsure whether the arrested suspects conducted the murders at all. That was until Gangwar was nabbed.

On August 8, he was identified and arrested near the banks of the Mathiya River. The team from the Shahi police station received a tip and identified the suspect based on sketches and videos, the SSP said. Gangwar told the investigators, "My stepmother would always beat me, I hated her. I got married in 2014, but my wife left me making me an addict. I hated women to the core and this was the only reason why I decided to eliminate them one by one."