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The Stoneman Murders

How brutal can a psychopath be?

By Hitarth RavalPublished 6 years ago 2 min read
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Pictorial Representation Only. Not an actual picture. ©Public Domain.

Let's play a game. Suppose you are a homeless person of the late 1980s. Just suppose! (..And forget that you still own a laptop/PC/smartphone to read this post in that time.) You are a homeless person and you are begging and trying to be alive to see the next morning. You struggle for food and other life crises and you go to that same corner of the street at night to sleep. What could you have possibly done wrong to someone that, while you are sleeping, some psychopath comes and crushes your head with a big stone? How horrible that is even to imagine! You might or might not have heard/read this story before, but it always runs a chill through my spine when I read it.

There was once this person in India around that time, who was named 'The Stoneman' by a popular English print media of Calcutta, India. Allegedly he has killed at least 13 (with the upper limit of 26) people, mostly homeless people like beggars and rag pickers, in their sleep with nothing but stones! Sometime the stones were as heavy as 30 kg in weight. Doesn't it sound bizarre to you? What could possibly be a motive for anyone to kill innocent homeless people? Well, I guess psychopathy doesn't need motives.

Around 1985, there were signs of homeless people being killed in their sleep on the streets of Mumbai (then Bombay, India), when police found at least 12 murders within a span of 2 years with the same pattern. In most of the cases, the victims were well researched upon by the serial killer and he chose only those who didn't have many relatives or friends and preferred to sleep alone! Mysteriously, the killings were stopped in mid 1988, but the police could never trace this guy. The locals were drowned in fear.

Further adding to the horror, the same pattern of crime was again noticed, when murders resumed in another city of India — Kolkata (then Calcutta, India). The summer of 1989 was gruesome for the residents. Twelve more died in the similar manner (a blow to the head by a huge stone or concrete slab)! The Kolkata police did a massive deployment of policemen and caught some local suspects. They were arrested and thoroughly interrogated.

Despite all efforts, the stoneman never came to light. Who knows, he might be still out there on the streets of India! (Reportedly in 2016, similar killings have been noticed in some parts of Assam, a north eastern state in India.) To date, no one knows what he even looks like! There have been many serial killers in history, but there are only a few who managed to get away with what they did. The stoneman seems to be one of them.

The question remains unanswered — How brutal can a psychopath be? (along with, 'Who was/is that murderer?')

Hitarth Raval is a mechanical engineering designer by profession and lives in Toronto, Ontario. He is originally from a western city of India. Apart from designing new things, he also loves to write, read interesting stuff, and he has been a contributor for a small film studio in India and also a published author. You can check out his anthology book 'Musings Diary-A collection' on major platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, iTunes store, and many more. He enjoys a variety of coffee and Indian food items. This is his first post on vocal.media and he hopes to create more interesting posts on here. Stay tuned for more! Thank you for your time reading.

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About the Creator

Hitarth Raval

Connect with me on Instagram @ravalhitarth

Why don't you find out more in my stories? ;)

Check out my book! - Musings Diary - A Collection

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