Haryana Congress woman worker murdered, body dumped in bag; BJP slams party

The body of a woman Congress worker was found in a suitcase in Haryana’s Rohtak, sparking a political storm on Sunday with the victim’s family raising doubt about the involvement of a Congress colleague and the BJP slamming the grand old party for some of its members’ criminal track record. 

The black suitcase from which the body of Himani Narwal, 23, a law student, was recovered on Friday had been dumped near the Sampla bus stand on the Rohtak-Delhi highway. The bag was spotted by some rag-pickers.

Himani’s mother Savita, who lives with her son Jatin in Delhi, sought justice for her daughter alleging intra-party rivalry as a possible motive behind the murder.

She claimed Himani had made many enemies due to her quick rise in the Congress after she joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.

“I request Hooda sahab to help us get justice,” she said, adding that her killers could be from the party or known to her.

The victim’s brother Jatin told IANS that their family will not cremate her till they get justice.

He said the bag in which the body was found belonged to Himani, indicating that someone known to her may be involved.

Savita said Himani left her home to catch a bus to Delhi on February 27 evening but later told her that she would be busy with an event of “Deepender Hooda Sahab”.

But it seems Himani was killed before attending the event, she said.

After 4 p.m. on Thursday there was no communication with her, said Savita.

Himani's mother said she got a call from the police on Friday afternoon informing her about the murder.

A police investigating officer said, “Scientific evidence is being examined and an autopsy is being conducted.”

Amit Malviya, in-charge of BJP’s National Information and Technology Department, said in a post on X, “The mother of deceased Haryana Congress worker Himani Narwal says that the murder could have been committed by a Congress leader or his friend. The party and elections took her daughter's life.”

“She said that her daughter was close to Bhupinder Singh Hooda's wife, Asha Hooda, but now she is not picking up the phone. After the tandoor incident, now the suitcase incident – ​​exploitation and murder of women workers has become the identity of the Congress,” he said.

The tandoor incident mentioned by Malviya refers to the 1995 tandoor murder case in Delhi in which a woman, Naina Sahni, was murdered by her husband and Congress leader Sushil Sharma before attempting to burn her body in a five-star hotel’s tandoor to destroy evidence. He was convicted later.

Haryana Minister Anil Vij called Himani’s murder and her family’s allegations a serious matter. He said Congress leaders have done this earlier as well. “Pulling down someone for one's own progress is Congress culture. I am sure the culprits will be punished soon," he said.