Kishan Rawat, a mason and neighbour, has been arrested in connection with the rape and murder of 48-year-old widow Reshma Bano and the killing of her visually impaired 18-year-old son Shadab in Lucknow’s Mohanlalganj area. Rawat had been on the run since the double murder was discovered on Monday night, but was shot in the leg and apprehended late on Wednesday after he opened fire on a police team, injuring a constable.
A rape charge has since been added to the case based on findings from the post-mortem examination. The shocking killings, which came to light after the family lost contact with the victims, have sparked widespread outrage across the country.
A Night Horror
Reshma Bano was a widow who ran a small paan-masala stall to support herself and her son. Hers was a life of quiet resilience a mother making ends meet in a modest neighbourhood, raising a child with a visual disability on her own after the death of her husband. That life was brutally cut short over a debt of ₹160.
According to ACP Vikas Kumar Pandey, Rawat owed Reshma ₹160 and came to her house on Monday evening under the pretext of returning the money. When he arrived, Shadab was alone at home and turned him away, asking him to return when his mother came back. A short while later, when Reshma returned, Rawat came back as well. Shadab heard his voice and allegedly abused him, at which point Rawat kicked the young man, causing him to fall into a water tank. Rawat then strangled him and placed another tank over the body to conceal it.
When Reshma tried to intervene and fight back, Rawat pushed her down and attacked her. According to police, she was sexually assaulted when she resisted and was then strangled to death. Injury marks were found near the woman’s private parts and a rape charge has been added to the FIR accordingly. After the killings, Rawat allegedly brutalised the woman’s body further and sat near the dead bodies drinking alcohol before fleeing the scene.
Bodies Discovered, Family Devastated
The bodies were found on Monday night after Reshma failed to answer her phone. Her brother-in-law, who lives in Aashiana Aurangabad, grew concerned and sent a relative to check on her. The woman’s brother told India Today that the last contact with his nephew Shadab was a brief phone call in the evening before he went to offer namaz after which both phones went silent. When the relative arrived at the house, she discovered a gruesome scene. Shadab’s body was found in the water tank and Reshma’s semi-clad body was found near a cot, wrapped in a quilt.
Around 10 pm on Monday, Mohanlalganj police station received information from a local resident that both Reshma Bano and her visually impaired son Shadab had been found dead inside their home. Upon inspection, it was confirmed that both had been strangled to death using a cloth. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Rallapalli Vasanth Kumar reached the scene and provided necessary directions to officials, with four investigative teams established and CCTV footage examined to track any leads.
Accused Shot, Arrested After Encounter
Five police teams were formed to track down the accused. CCTV footage from the area confirmed Rawat’s presence near the scene and helped narrow down his location. On Wednesday night at around 10:45 pm, a police team spotted a suspicious individual near a brick kiln in Hulaskheda. When officers tried to stop him, the man fled and opened fire from behind a tree, shooting Constable Amit Singh in the foot. Officers returned fire, wounding Rawat in the leg, after which he was apprehended. He has since been charged with murder, rape, and related offences.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
The murder of Reshma Bano and her son Shadab is not merely a crime report it is a mirror held up to a society that continues to fail its most vulnerable. Reshma was doing everything right: working honestly, raising her child with dignity, and simply asking to be repaid money she was owed. That this act of basic assertion asking a neighbour for ₹160 could cost both her and her brave son their lives is a tragedy that goes beyond the individual.
Shadab’s attempt to defend his mother, despite his disability, reflects a courage that shames far more powerful bystanders across this country. The speed of the police response and the accused’s arrest are welcome, but justice cannot end at the courtroom door. It must extend to the systems and social silences that allow widows living alone to remain so acutely unprotected.
