Many controversial cases in India have captivated the nation and generated a lot of discussion and attention. These are the examples of strange and horrifying killings or suicides, leaving the people stunned even today. From high-profile killings to confusing legal matters to confusing superstition matters, these cases pose concerns about the essence of justice.  

Here we cover a few well-known controversial cases of India, that still sends the chills. The cases involve a wide spectrum of crimes, including horrific murders, startling rapes and even mass suicide cases.  

Murders and killings 

Tandoor Murder 1995 

The Tandoor Murder Case of 1995 is one of the well-known Indian controversial cases. The case is on a young woman named Naina Sahni, was killed by her spouse Sushil Sharma. The case gained media attention over the circumstances surrounding the crime and its gruesome nature. 

Sushil Sharma, politician who belonged to the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee and was connected to the Indian Youth Congress. He killed his wife in a jealous fit of rage, over the suspicion of having extra marital affair. He shot his wife and tried to discard her body by chopping it up and burning it in a tandoor (a traditional clay oven used for cooking and baking bread).  

The crime occurred at the Bagiya restaurant in New Delhi, where Sharma was also a managing partner, in the wee hours of July 2, 1995. 

The case attracted national attention and was widely criticized, highlighting the issue of domestic abuse and violence. Sushil Sharma was taken into custody. Following a widely reported trial, he was found guilty in 2003 and given a life sentence. Even today, the case is said to be the most notorious murder cases in Indian legal history.  

Sheena Bora murder case 

This involved the daughter of media executive Indrani Mukerjea, Sheena Bora, killed in 2012. The case further unfolds with her mother Indrani Mukerjea being accused of killing Sheena with the assistance of her driver Shyamvar Rai and ex-husband Sanjeev Khanna.  

The case gained massive public attention as Indrani was hiding the truth of Sheena and her relation. In the beginning she always introduced Sheena as her sister, but later accepted the truth that she was her daughter.  

The prosecution argued that Sheena was murdered over financial disputes and personal grudges. The case took a turn in 2015 when Shyamvar Rai admitted to his involvement in the case, resulting in the arrests and further trial sessions. All three of the accused were found guilty in 2019 and given life sentences.  

The Sheena Bora case is said to be the most talked about case in the nation. Even a Netflix douc-series has also been made on this case, named as ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth.’ 

Aarushi murder mystery  

The Noida double-murder case mystery involves the sad deaths of 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar and her family’s domestic helper, Hemraj Banjade, in 2008.  

The case came to light on May 16, 2008, when Aarushi Talwar’s body was discovered in her bedroom. Her parents, Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were the prime suspects of the murder. Hemraj, the family’s domestic helper, went missing and but later discovered dead on the building’s terrace the next day.  

This case gained the nation’s interest due to its mysterious theories and twists and turns. The case included messing with forensic evidence, suspicion over the involvement of outsiders and the controversial narco-analysis test of parents.  

After battling for a long time, the parents were eventually arrested and were charged with murder, conspiracy and botching the evidence. However, in 2013 the Allahabad High Court acquitted both the parents due to lack of solid proof.  

With involvement of range of officers and the mass coverage the case was divided into number of opinions on who is the actual murderer. The Arushi Talwar case remains unsolved and one of the most sensational cases of Indian legal history.  

Pradyuman Thakur, Ryan International School  

In September 2017, the nation went sunned with the shocking news of a seven-year-old student named Pradyuman Thakur, found dead at Ryan International School in Gurugram.  

On September 8, 2017, a little boy was found with his throat slit inside the school washroom. Mainly, the case unfolded with the school’s bus conductor’s involvement based on CCTV footage. The footage showed him taking the boy inside the washroom and later confessing to the crime.  

However, when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), took over the case it was revealed that the bus conductor was falsely accused. Subsequently, the agency detained a student from class XI in relation to the murder. The young boy was arrested for committing the gruesome act, just to postpone the exams.  

The juvenile was found guilty and given a sentence of three years in a special home in December 2019. This is the maximum punishment permitted for minors under the Juvenile Justice Act.  

Nithari, Cannibalism case 

The spine-chilling Nithari cannibalism case refers to the involvement of two men named, Moninder Singh Pandher and his housekeeper Surinder Koli, convicted in the heinous case that stunned the country.  

They were held in 2006 after body parts were found near their home in village Nithari, Noida. The murder caught the light after children’s garments were found inside a sewar in front of Moninder’s house.  

After investigation it was revealed that at least 19 young women and kids were lured to deaths, raped and chopped off. In the further interrogation rounds, Koli disclosed to cannibalism (eating of human flesh by a human) and necrophilia (having sexual intercourse with dead body). CBI registered 19 cases against the two men, where Koli was charged with murder, abduction, rape and destruction of evidence and Pandher was charged with unethical trafficking.  

Cases that led to changes in Indian Rape Laws  

Mathura Rape case 1972 

In Mathura rape case, a tribal girl was allegedly raped by two policemen in March of 1972 on the grounds of the Desaiganj Police Station in the Maharashtra district of Gadchiroli.  

The case become the highlight when it initially came before the sessions court in 1974, in which it was stated that Mathura’s assent was voluntary since she was “habituated to sexual intercourse,” meaning that there was a sexual intercourse between them and not rape.  

Following the appeal, the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur bench found that it was a rape, and the two police officers were sentenced to one to five years imprisonment. The Court noted that giving in to rape under fear is not consent but sexual assault. 

The Nirbhaya gang-rape 2012  

This case hit headlines as the the most heinous yet chilling cases of Indian criminal history. The Nirbhaya gang-rape sparked the attention not only at national but across the global media platform. The case involved a 23-year-old girl who was ruthlessly assaulted and raped by six men in a moving bus, on the cold night of December 16, 2012.  

The girl along with her friend Awindra Pratap Pandey was returning home after watching a movie. The duo took an off-duty bus, in which all the six men were present including the bus driver.  

The incident shook the nation with his vicious scenes where the attackers shoved an iron rod inside the girl’s private part, pulling and ripping intestines apart.  

On December 29, 2012, she passed away due to her injuries. In her statement to the Police, she stated that she wanted justice against her rapists. This incident led to nationwide protests and demonstrations and initiated modifications to the legislation against women violence. After the incident, the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013 was passed after recommendations by judicial committees. The definition of rape was changed, and age of consent for women was raised to 18, among others. Juvenile laws were also amended: rapists between 16-18 are now treated as adults. 

Mass Suicide 

The Burari Deaths 

The Burari death case refers to the tragedy that took place in Delhi’s Burari locality. Eleven members of Bhatia family were discovered dead inside their Burari home on July 1, 2018, in an unexplainable manner. The family’s 77-year-old grandmother Narayani Devi, her two sons Bhavnesh (50) and Lalit (45), their spouses, five kids and Nayani Devi’s daughter Pratibha were among the deceased.  

All the members were found in an unusual state of manner: Narayani Devi was found dead on the floor in a different room, and ten members were found hanging blindfolded. The lack of resistance and injury marks shown in the corpses raised the possibility of a mass suicide or ceremonial killings.  

All the cases points to the complications and difficulties that India’s judicial system. These challenging criminal cases demand critical conversations about justice, openness and rights protection. The priority of the system while dealing with such cases should only be fair investigations, hosting trials sessions and maintaining ideal justice for all.