As 2024 comes to a close, it is essential to reflect on the tragic events that have profoundly impacted our nation, marked by a series of violent crimes and incidents that have left many in shock.
This year has underscored the ongoing challenges in law enforcement, social justice, and public safety.
Incidents of violence, including rape and murder, have dominated the headlines.
From horrific attacks and killings to acts of terrorism and organized crime, these events have sparked widespread outrage, igniting public debate and urgent calls for reform.
In this year-end review, let us take a moment to examine the stories that have shaken our nation, fostering discussions about security, justice, and the deep-rooted issues that continue to affect our society.
Sandeshkhali mob violence
Sandeshkhali had been in turmoil since January 5, when a mob attacked Enforcement Directorate officials searching the premises of Trinamool Congress leader Shahjahan Sheikh, who was wanted in a ration scam. Right after the raid, Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers were assaulted by local villagers, who, along with Sheikh Shahjahan’s supporters, destroyed their phones and important files.
Protests in Sandeshkhali began shortly after the incident and were mainly led by women. The unrest soon escalated into a major political controversy. Women protesters demanded the arrest of TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his associates, accusing them of land grabbing, sexual harassment, and coercion.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) visited the area and, in a critical report, highlighted systemic abuse and fear in Sandeshkhali, implicating both police officers and TMC members. The report alleged that local women have been subjected to ongoing abuse and harassment under the influence of Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters.
The political blame game further intensified as the BJP and NCW accused Mamata Banerjee’s TMC party of being complicit in these crimes.
Union Minister Smriti Irani also alleged that Hindu women in Sandeshkhali were being subjected to rape. This claim added a new layer to the ongoing controversy and has garnered national attention.
Bengaluru CEO accused of killing son
The year began with a chilling case where a woman allegedly murdered her 4 year old son at a service apartment in Candolim, North Goa.
Suchana
Seth, the woman accused in the tragic incident, is a 39-year-old CEO of a Bengaluru based company, Mindful AI Lab.
The incident that took place on 9 January, was discovered when hotel staff alerted the police after finding a blood stain in the room after Suchana checked out. CCTV footage revealed she left alone, prompting further investigation.
After the crime, she left for Bengaluru in a taxi, carrying her son’s body in a bag. However, police found that Suchana lied about leaving her son at a friend’s house in Fatorda, and contacted the taxi driver. He was instructed to take the vehicle to a nearby police station.
Upon reaching the police station, the boy’s body was found in the bag after which Suchana was detained in Karnataka.
The motive behind the murder was a strained relationship with her husband, with the couple engaged in a bitter custody battle over their child.
Police investigations found empty bottles of cough syrup in her room, suggesting that Seth might have given a heavy dose of the medicine to her son before smothering him to death. Post mortem reports also revealed that the child was smothered to death by either a cloth or pillow.
Bangalore cafe bombing
On March 1, a large explosion occurred at Bengaluru’s popular Rameshwaram Café during the busy lunch hour, injuring at least nine people, including two staff members and seven customers. The café was located in Whitefield’s Brookfield area, a vibrant business and tech hub.
Initial reports suggested a gas cylinder blast, but further investigations ruled out any gas leakage. Karnataka’s Director of Fire and Emergency Services confirmed that no gas leak was detected, and the explosion appeared to have been caused by something in the handbag.
Investigators from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) who were looking into the explosion at the café in Bengaluru found that the suspect bomber went to Ballari and then got on another bus that was going to Gokarna.
The accused, Mussavir Hussain Shazib and Abdul Matheen Taha were given a 10-day custody period by the NIA in connection with the case. After being transported from Kolkata on transit remand, they were presented before a judge of the NIA special court in Bengaluru.
According to the NIA’s conclusions, Taha was the attack’s mastermind, while Shazib was in charge of setting the improvised explosive device (IED) at the cafe.
The café was established in 2021 by CA Divya Raghavendra Rao and Raghavendra Rao. Its name was chosen as a tribute to the birthplace of the late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.
Pune Porsche case
On May 19, 2024, at 2:30 am, a tragic accident took the lives of 2 techies, Anish Awadhia and Ashwini Kosta, when a 17-year-old boy, driving a Porsche Taycan, rammed onto their motorcycle. The devastating hit-and-run incident occurred on Kalyan Nagar Airport Road in Pune, falling within the Yerwada police station limits.
However, what sparked outrage across the country was the Juvenile Justice Board’s decision of granting bail to the accused minor, slapping him with nothing more than a trivial 300-word essay and 15 days of traffic police duty, despite the grave nature of the crime.
As the investigation progressed, several shocking revelations came to light, including the tampering of the teen’s blood sample to conceal evidence of alcohol consumption.
The boy’s grandfather who was accused of coercing a driver to take the blame for the crash, was arrested, while his father, a prominent builder, was also taken into custody for allowing his son to drive while intoxicated. Additionally, two doctors from Sassoon General Hospital were also arrested for allegedly swapping the blood samples and taking a bribe from the boy’s father.
His father reportedly also brought Maharashtra MLA Sunil Tingre to the police station, delaying the blood alcohol test.
In the aftermath, the families of the two victims expressed their deep dissatisfaction when the father of the main accused, along with several others involved in the case, was granted bail.
Reasi pilgrim attack
In a tragic incident that occurred on June 9 in J&K’s
Reasi district
, at least nine pilgrims, including a child, were killed and 41 others injured when their bus, returning from the Shiv Khori cave shrine.
The bus fell into a gorge after being ambushed by terrorists near Teryath village along a hilly, forested link road of NH144A. Local residents and authorities launched rescue operations, while security forces, including the police, Army, and CRPF, initiated a search to apprehend the attackers.
Initially, the Resistance Front (TRF) claimed responsibility for the ambush but later retracted the statement. However, Jammu and Kashmir police suspect that the attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, with the TRF thought to be a front for the group.
RG Kar Hospital rape and murder case
The morning of 9th August 2024 sent shockwaves across the nation when a 31 year old trainee doctor’s life was brutally cut short in a gruesome case of rape and murder at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
The victim was found in the seminar hall inside her college building in a half dressed state, covered in her own blood due to multiple external and internal injuries. The murder set off widespread outrage, with doctors and nurses across Kolkata protesting. Junior doctors in West Bengal went on strike for 42 days, and the unrest spread to other parts of India.
Sanjay Roy
, a Kolkata police civic volunteer, was arrested just six hours after the police set up a seven-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case.
However, following orders from the Calcutta High Court, the investigation was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). After filing an FIR in New Delhi, the CBI took Roy into custody as the primary suspect in the brutal crime.
Recently a CFSL report revealed that evidence of possible struggle between the victim and her assailant was not found at the scene of the crime, the seminar hall, sources reported on Monday.
The victim’s family has filed a plea for a fresh investigation, which is set to be heard by the Calcutta High Court on January 2.
This devastating incident stands as a sober and painful reminder of the ongoing threat to women’s safety in today’s society.
Badlapur school assault case
As the nation was grappling with the horrors of
RG Kar rape case
, another similar crime came to light in the Badlapur district of Maharashtra, where, two four year old nursery girls were sexually abused by the sweeper of a reputed co educational school.
The accused, who joined the school on August 1, working as a sweeper, assaulted the minors in the washroom on August 12th and 13th.
On August 16, the parents of the assaulted girls approached the Badlapur police station to file a case, only to face a concerning 12-hour delay before the FIR was registered, well past midnight.
The delay, first by the school administration and then by police sparked a wave of outrage among the people who then held protests in multiple areas, including vandalising the school and halting train services at Badlapur station for over 8 hours.
Amidst the outrage, the school administration attempted to cover up its negligence by dismissing the accused sweeper, Akshay Shinde, from his job. Additionally, they suspended the principal, the class teacher, and two female attendants who were responsible for escorting the girls to and from the washroom.
On August 20, the accused was shot dead while being transported to a transit remand for the rape charges in a “retaliatory firing”.
Sambhal violence
On November 24, 2024, Sambhal was engulfed in violent clashes, during the second survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid, resulting in deaths of five people, including one unreported case along with several injuries.
Multiple vehicles were torched, leading to the reinforcement of security forces from nearby districts.
The Uttar Pradesh administration had to invoke Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code to curb gatherings and prevent any further violence.
However, the unrest had already begun in Sambhal since November 19, triggered by an initial mosque survey ordered by the court. The survey was conducted in response to a petition asserting the prior existence of a Harihar temple at the site.
The survey, conducted under a local court order, was met with gunfire and stone-pelting, escalating tensions in the area. Many of the perpetrators were under 25 years old, and the involvement of women was notable, with two women being taken into custody.
In response, the Uttar Pradesh government formed a judicial commission to investigate the incident. The violence was linked to a petition claiming the mosque was built over a former Hindu temple. Police also discovered a connection to Pakistan after finding a cartridge made in Pakistan at the incident site.
A three-member judicial inquiry commission was set up to investigate the November 24 violence in Sambhal and its surrounding areas on Sunday. The commission, headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge Devendra Kumar Arora, includes former IAS officer Amit Mohan Prasad and retired IPS officer Arvind Kumar Jain.
The panel, which was formed on November 28 through a government notification, is expected to complete its investigation within two months.
Jiribam violence
A large-scale protest erupted in Imphal Valley on November 16, following the discovery of three bodies in Manipur’s Jiribam district. The bodies, identified as a woman and two children, were found floating in the Barak River near Jirimukh.
The discovery sparked fears that the victims could be among six residents from a nearby displacement camp who had gone missing. This camp was located near the site where security forces killed 10 Hmar “militants” on November 11, further intensifying tensions in the already volatile region.
Protesters, primarily women, blocked key roads in the Kwakeithel area and Sagolband Tera in Imphal West district by burning tyres, causing significant traffic disruptions. At Khwairamband Market, Imphal’s central marketplace, women vendors held a rally to condemn the killings, while heavy security was deployed throughout the city.
Representatives from various tribal organizations also gathered outside Silchar Medical College and Hospital, expressing concern over the delayed post-mortem examinations of the 10 ‘militants’ killed in the encounter.
In the aftermath of the Jiribam massacre, where Kuki militants killed six members of a Meitei family, family members and survivors are urging the government and human rights organizations to secure the death penalty for the perpetrators.
The victims, three women and three children (including a baby, a three-year-old, and an eight-year-old), were living in a relief camp in Jiribam when they were abducted by Kuki militants on November 11. Their bodies were later found at various locations near the Assam-Cachar district border.
Stepping into a new year, it is evident that the path forward demands not only stronger laws but also a collective commitment from every sector of society: law enforcement, the government, and the citizens themselves.
