Attacked police, fell in gorge: How Assam man accused of beheading wife died in escape bid

A 30-year-old Guwahati man accused of beheading his wife and storing her severed head in a refrigerator died after he allegedly attacked police personnel escorting him from a hospital in an escape bid, jumped off a moving vehicle and fell into a gorge, an officer said on Monday.

Anjad Brahma, the officer-in-charge of Hatigaon Police Station, where Ramanuj Goswami was being taken, said the incident took place in the early hours of Monday. His body has been sent for postmortem.

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Jumped from police vehicle

A second officer said Goswami suddenly attacked the police team escorting him back to the police station.

“He jumped from the vehicle and fell into a gorge near the Narakashur Pahar area.” The officer said Goswami was rescued with injuries and taken to hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Records showed Goswami was brought to the hospital at 2:41am and declared dead on arrival. Doctors said he had severe head injuries. His seven-day police remand was due to end on Monday, when police were to produce him before the court.

Goswami’s family refused to accept his body, claiming his death was not accidental but a so-called “encounter” killing.

The family said it had been preparing for the post-death rituals of Goswami’s wife, Riya Talukdar, but cancelled them after learning of his death. According to the family, the rituals cannot be continued after his death under Hindu customs.

Goswami allegedly beheaded Talukdar, 25, at a Guwahati flat on September 3 for allegedly cheating on him. Neighbours reported a foul odour, following which police recovered her severed head and fingers inside a black polythene bag in the refrigerator.

Goswami fled after the alleged murder and surrendered on September 6. He was subsequently sent into seven-day police remand. When he was taken to the crime scene on September 8, he said he had no regret for killing his wife.

“No regret, no apology. I killed her with a sharp weapon, and I will kill her sugar daddy if I ever come out of jail.”

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What happened?

Police said they recovered a blood-stained machete, the suspected weapon used in the murder. Goswami told police he was intoxicated when he killed his wife, and empty alcohol bottles were recovered from the apartment.

The Talukdar family said Goswami had a history of drug addiction, concealed medical issues and a prior arrest for financial fraud in 2019.

Goswami’s death is the latest custodial death reported in Assam. A death in police custody is treated as a custodial death regardless of its cause, including an escape attempt or natural causes, and warrants a magisterial inquiry.

In 2025, the Supreme Court directed the Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to investigate a series of alleged extrajudicial killings in the northeastern state, saying the use of excessive or illegal force cannot be justified. It overturned a January 2022 AHRC decision to close a case concerning the alleged extrajudicial killings, citing a pending plea on the issue in the Gauhati high court.

The Supreme Court directed the commission to reconsider the matter and conduct the probe, including allegations of injuries from illegal police action, popularly known as encounters. It asked the AHRC to approach the matter with sensitivity and directed the Assam government to cooperate fully and remove any institutional barriers.Plea alleged 171 fake encounters

Lawyer Arif Jwadder approached the Supreme Court over the alleged extrajudicial killings after the high court rejected his plea seeking action. His plea alleged 171 fake “encounters” between May 2021, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power for a second time, and August 2022.

In January 2023, the high court said people were killed and injured in police action, but the state government had registered first information reports to probe them. Jwadder’s petition said 54 people were killed and 140 injured in police action.