A 25-year-old software engineer was allegedly killed by his live-in partner inside a rented flat in south Kolkata late on Saturday night, in a case that has shaken a quiet residential neighbourhood in Garia and left the police examining what turned a domestic argument into a fatal attack.
The victim has been identified as Sarthak Sarkar, a resident of Barasat in North 24 Parganas district, who worked as a software engineer with a private company in Salt Lake's Sector V, Kolkata's information technology hub. He had been living in a rented flat in Fartabad, in the Garia area, with his girlfriend and live-in partner, Sanchalika Basu. Her mother, Moumita Basu, also stayed with the couple in the same flat.
According to preliminary police investigations, an argument broke out between Sarthak and Sanchalika on Saturday night over an issue that has not yet been made public. During the altercation, Sanchalika allegedly attacked him with a sharp weapon, striking him on the shoulder. The injury proved fatal. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
The incident came to light in the early hours of Sunday, when a woman ran out of the rented flat crying for help. Neighbours who rushed in found the young man lying in a pool of blood on the bed. The flat falls under the jurisdiction of the Narendrapur police station, and personnel from the station reached the spot soon after being alerted.
Police have arrested Sanchalika in connection with the death, and her mother Moumita has also been taken into custody, with investigators examining whether she played any role in the incident.
Aravind Kumar Anand, the superintendent of police of Baruipur police district, said the investigation was at a preliminary stage. He said the roles of both women were being examined and that the exact weapon used in the attack would be established after questioning. Police are questioning the two women and investigating the motive behind the alleged murder.
The case has drawn attention not only because of the brutality of the incident but also because of the questions it raises about what happened inside the flat in the hours before the attack. According to one account, the couple had returned home on Saturday evening after buying firecrackers for Kali Puja, and the argument broke out later that night. The motive remains unclear.
Investigators are examining whether the attack was the outcome of a domestic dispute or whether there were other factors behind it.
Sujay Sarkar, the father of the victim, has accused Sanchalika of committing a premeditated murder, according to reports from the scene. The police have not confirmed that version of events, and their public statements so far have been careful to describe the investigation as being at an early stage.
The distinction matters: while the father has alleged that the killing was planned, the police say they are still establishing what led to the argument and what role, if any, the mother played.
The arrests were made after a preliminary inquiry at the spot. Police sources said Sanchalika, who is a student, was first arrested on charges of murdering her live-in partner. Her mother was arrested subsequently, after investigators formed the view that she might also have been involved.
The police have said they suspect the mother may have played a role in the incident, and that the circumstances surrounding her role are being investigated. One account said the mother was allegedly aware of the incident and kept quiet, though the police have not publicly confirmed that detail.
The incident took place on Saturday night, a day before the Diwali festivities, at a time when households across the city were preparing for the festival. Fartabad, the locality in Garia where the flat is situated, is a densely populated residential area on the southern fringes of Kolkata. The killing has caused panic in the neighbourhood, with local residents describing their shock at the violence unfolding in a rented flat in their midst.
For the police, the immediate task is to reconstruct the sequence of events inside the flat. That will involve recording the statements of the two arrested women, speaking to neighbours who heard or saw anything on Saturday night, and examining the scene of the crime. The weapon used in the attack has not yet been formally identified, and the police have said it will be established after questioning.
Medical and forensic procedures, including the post-mortem examination, will form part of the evidence that determines how the case proceeds.
Cases of this kind, in which a domestic argument escalates into lethal violence, are among the most difficult for investigators to piece together, because the only witnesses are often the people involved. The police account so far rests on preliminary findings: an argument, an attack with a sharp weapon, and a young man found bleeding in his own flat.
What the police do not yet know, by their own admission, is what the argument was about, whether the attack was spontaneous or planned, and what the mother's role was.
The relationship itself has become part of the public discussion around the case. Sarthak and Sanchalika were living together as partners in the rented flat, with the mother also living there. Live-in relationships are increasingly common among young working people in Indian cities, particularly in technology and services jobs where long hours and migration from home towns shape how people live.
Such arrangements carry no legal bar in India, and the Supreme Court has recognised the rights of adults in live-in relationships, but they can also become flashpoints within families and, as this case shows, can end in tragedy when a dispute turns violent.
The police have not disclosed whether there had been earlier complaints of trouble between the couple, or whether neighbours had reported quarrels before Saturday night. That is among the questions investigators will be pursuing as they speak to people who knew the couple. For now, the official position is that the investigation is open, the motive is unknown, and both women remain in custody while their roles are examined.
The death of a young professional at the start of his career has also resonated beyond the neighbourhood. Sarthak Sarkar had moved from Barasat to live in south Kolkata while working in Sector V, a commute and a life pattern familiar to thousands of young engineers in the city. His family in Barasat is now dealing with the loss, and with the allegation that the person responsible was the woman he lived with.
As the investigation continues, the focus will be on the evidence gathered from the flat, the medical findings, and the questioning of the two women. The police have said they will establish the weapon used and the exact sequence of events. Until then, the case remains what the police have described it as: a murder investigation at a preliminary stage, with the motive yet to be established and the roles of both arrested women still being examined.
(Reporting based on The Times of India, ETV Bharat and The Statesman.)