On February 18, 2020, morning walkers along a beach in Medinipur, West Bengal, discovered two burning human bodies. Kolkata Police responded and recovered one completely burned body and one partially burned body, later identified as 42-year-old Rama Dey and her 20-year-old daughter Riya Dey. Investigators recovered a damaged earring marked 'SJP' and 'KDM' and hair strands, but found no fingerprints or immediate identification evidence. After police published physical descriptions on social media, Rama's brother reported the pair missing from their rented flat in New Barrackpore. Call Detail Records (CDR) revealed frequent communication between both women and a common contact, Saddam Hussein. Police apprehended Saddam Hussein, who initially claimed he was in a live-in relationship with Riya, whom he accused of blackmailing him. Further investigation of the flat uncovered a diary written by Riya and fragments of a 2018 marriage certificate proving Saddam and Riya were legally married, as well as diary entries detailing overlapping intimate relationships between Saddam, Riya, and Rama, alongside allegations of explicit photographs used for blackmail. Saddam admitted to spiking their food with sedatives alongside his accomplice Manzoor Alam, transporting them to the Medinipur beach, dousing them in petrol, and setting them on fire while they were still alive. Saddam and Manzoor Alam were arrested and charged.
Country: India
State/Province: West Bengal, India
City/Region: Medinipur
Incident Type: Murder
Relationship Status: Secret Marriage
Relationship Duration: Approximately 2 years
Incident Date: Feb. 18, 2020
Relationship Origins:
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How the relationship or connection began.
Approximately 2 years
Important relationship phases recorded for this case.
Reported red flags or early concern points.
Contributing factors and possible motives from the available sources.
2020-02-18
Recorded relationship or case outcome.
English labels are shown first. Original-language titles are preserved for source verification.
Romantic Triangle
The case exhibits a severe multi-partner romantic entanglement involving deception, marital concealment, and lethal escalation. Saddam Hussein entered a secret legal marriage with Riya Dey while maintaining a prior marriage and family, while simultaneously establishing an intimate relationship with Riya's mother, Rama Dey. When the relationship deteriorated into mutual allegations of infidelity, blackmail, and threats to expose explicit media to Saddam's primary family, Saddam planned a fatal double homicide using drugging and immolation to eliminate both women.
Kolkata Police formed a 13-member special team after recovering two burned bodies on a Medinipur beach. Key breakthroughs came from tracking Call Detail Records (CDR) after the victims' uncle reported them missing, revealing extensive call logs between both women and Saddam Hussein. A search of the victims' rented New Barrackpore apartment yielded a personal diary and shredded fragments of a 2018 marriage registration certificate. Saddam Hussein was arrested within four days of the crime, and co-accused Manzoor Alam and associates were arrested by February 27, 2020. The case was submitted to court for prosecution.
Initial identification was severely hindered because both bodies were severely burned, stripping away clothes, physical features, and fingerprints. Investigators initially searched local jewelry shops using initials ('SJP' and 'KDM') found on a recovered earring, which yielded no leads. Additionally, Saddam Hussein initially misdirected police by claiming he was only in a live-in relationship with Riya and that he was a victim of torture, feigning injuries by admitting himself to a hospital with minor scratch marks.
Saddam Hussein and Manzoor Alam organized a party at the victims' New Barrackpore flat, where they served chowmein spiked with sedatives. Once Rama and Riya lost consciousness, they wrapped them in blankets, loaded them into a car, and drove to an isolated beach in Medinipur with petrol. As dawn approached while they attempted to dig a grave, the victims showed signs of regaining consciousness, prompting the perpetrators to douse both women in petrol and set them on fire while alive. Investigators reconstructed the narrative by combining CDR analysis, apartment search findings (diary and marriage certificate), and forensic post-mortem reports.
High risk factors included a concealed secondary marriage, overlapping covert romantic relationships within the same household, threats of exposure and blackmail involving sensitive media, and premeditated lethal violence involving multiple offenders and sedatives.
Covert parallel relationships combined with blackmail threats over hidden personal digital records present acute risk indicators for extreme interpersonal violence. Forensic reliance on digital communication records and document recovery inside private residences proved decisive in establishing identity when physical crime scene evidence was minimized through immolation.
Continuous late-night and long-duration phone calls between Saddam Hussein and both mother and daughter served as the primary digital footprint connecting him to the missing victims.
A missing persons complaint filed by the victims' uncle, Call Detail Records pointing to a single shared contact, torn fragments of a 2018 marriage certificate in a cupboard, and a trilingual personal diary written by Riya Dey provided crucial links.
The strongest evidence included CDR logs establishing regular communication, recovered fragments of the official 2018 marriage registration certificate, Riya's personal diary detailing the relationships and overlapping encounters, and medical post-mortem reports confirming live immolation.
Beachgoers and morning walkers reported smelling a foul odor and discovering human bodies burning near the shoreline at Medinipur on the morning of February 18, 2020. The victims' maternal uncle reported to police that his sister and niece had been missing for two days without contact.
Initial assumptions that Saddam was merely an unmarried live-in boyfriend were disproven when investigators located torn marriage certificate fragments proving a legal 2018 marriage, alongside diary entries exposing Saddam's dual intimate relationship with both mother and daughter.
Formal judicial sentencing details were not finalized at the time of the report, as court proceedings remained ongoing.