CASE 3

R V AJAY SOLANKI

The defendant is an Indian immigrant in London by the name of Ajay Solanki. He works
in the medical field, as a well-established clinical pharmaceutical scientist. Colleagues
describe him as a “talented scientist” with a “practical approach to medicine”. However,
they have also noted his “unconventional beliefs” for a scientist, having been deeply
intertwined with spiritualism, especially Astrology, Satanism and Local Indian Folk Tales.

Ajay’s wife, Amal Khan, and Ajay have been married since 2008, Ajay being Hindu and
Amal being Muslim. Whilst in the process of trying to conceive for approximately 13
years, they were constantly met with bad luck. To add to this, their marriage life was
tumultuous, with one hurdle after another. Amal’s father was opposed to her getting
married to a Hindu man and refused to accept him even after the marriage. Ajay’s mom,
Bhavya was just as opposed to her son marrying a Muslim girl; as a result, she uttered
vile maledictions and curses towards their marriage. Moreover, during the period of their
married life, Ajay lost his job twice and their house had even caught on fire resulting in
numerous losses. Ajay had blamed their cursed luck for those incidents.

After thirteen years though, their bad luck had finally ended. They had been making
numerous trips to the Kashi Vishwanath temple and offering prayers to the Ganges
River after not being able to conceive a child for so long, and to their delight, they were
soon granted a son, whom they named Aditya Solanki. Ajay felt hope for a better future
and could feel positivity for the first time in 13 years. However, the happiness didn’t last
very long.

Aditya was diagnosed with progeria at the age of 2. Children with this progressive
genetic condition age rapidly and the majority of them only live to be teenagers. After
learning of this news, Ajay had shut himself in his office completely isolating himself
from his family. Amal claimed that at that point, Ajay couldn’t even acknowledge her
sorrow as a mother and only kept to himself. Her claim also mentioned that Ajay
couldn’t bear to look at his son without getting overwhelmed with emotions.
On December 23, 2023, they had a consultation scheduled for their son with renowned
UK doctor Richard Stevenson. While his wife went to the doctor, Ajay did not
accompany her to the consultation. Instead, he believed that all he needed to do to heal
his son, was to pray to the gods. As such, he got on a flight and went to his native city
Varanasi, India to offer his prayers.
He went to the Kashi Vishwanath temple and spent the whole day fasting and reciting
prayers. Rahul Sharma, his childhood best friend, went with him on this journey. Later,
when he called his wife to inquire about Dr. Richard's consultation, he was devasted to
hear what the doctor had said: “Aditya can live for a maximum of 6 more years.”.

According to Rahul’s statements, "Ajay was devastated to hear this news." Praying, he
truly believed, would be helpful. ‘What good is it to invent medicines if I can't develop a
way to protect my own child’, he once said to me. Perhaps there is no such thing as
God, following the path of righteousness is pointless, and all that God has ever given
me is suffering. On that day, Ajay sarcastically declared that he would start divulging in
witchcraft and succumb to Satanism instead. Ajay left after our talk, and I didn't see him
again until the following morning.”

Following his talk with Rahul, he wandered through Varanasi's unfamiliar streets the
whole day. It slipped his attention that it was almost midnight. At midnight, he crossed
the Rajghat Bridge. Rajghat Bridge is not used after dusk due to its eerie reputation for
paranormal activity. Ajay claims, "I just thought it was a random path as I walked down
the bridge; I didn't realize it was Rajghat. I recall experiencing a strong gust of wind that
made my stomach churn while I was walking. I was shocked to see an animal on the
loose across the bridge. It transformed into a person while I was staring at it. I sensed
that my body was frozen and that it was approaching me. I'm not sure what kind of
animal, human, or devil it was, but it told me it knew my son's remedy. It said to me,
‘You are in the land of Aghoris, and if you kill and consume the person you feel the
strongest feelings for—you might feel love, anger, or jealousy—Aghoris will pray that
you find a treatment for progeria and let you know about it immediately through your
dream.’ The next memory I have is of waking up in my hotel room and sweating
heavily.”

Both Rahul and Ajay returned to London by plane the following day. Ajay, according to
Rahul, was restless the whole flight. When Ajay got home, he noticed his wife sobbing
in front of his mother as she was narrating to her, Aditya's situation.

Ajay had a revelation then, it was that he and his wife were suffering far too much. That
is when he remembered something, it struck him that his mother had once said vicious
things about his marriage in the beginning. That day, Ajay decided he would drive his
mother home. In the middle of the drive, he informed Bhavya that he needed to take a
detour to show her something in his clinic, and he stopped by his clinic. Ajay stabbed
Bhavya in the neck as she walked into the empty clinic. He had prior medical expertise,
so he was familiar with dissecting human bodies. He disassembled Bhavya’'s body,
stewing her bones, brain, and kidney. He kept the remaining organs in his clinic's fridge

Ajay claimed that he drank the stew, came back home and went to sleep in the hopes of
dreaming about the treatment that would heal his son. When he woke up the following
morning, he had no such dream. The realisation had dawned on him that he
slaughtered his mother and turned into a cannibal, all without exploring a remedy.

The police discovered Bhavya, Ajay's mother,'s remaining organs in Ajay's clinic two
weeks after her death. Ajay informed the police simply how he dissected and fed on the
organs when they questioned him about them. The UK's federal police began looking
into the matter. They discovered that 19,500 Aghoris, or cannibalists, call Varanasi
home. Additionally, they learned that the Rajghat Bridge is thought by the locals to be
haunted, who also allege that an animal turns into a human at night.

Ajay was taken into custody by federal police. Ajay cried out, "The devil made me do it!"
the whole way down the road as the cops were taking him away. "The devil forced me to
do it!" His fellow prisoners called him a crazy man who would sit by himself and recite
strange Sanskrit phrases.

Ajay Solanki is accused by the Crown Prosecution Service of murdering Bhavya

Solanki.

RELEVANT LAWS:

● Homicide Act 1957

is a piece of legislation in the United Kingdom that made important changes to the law
regarding homicide, which includes murder and manslaughter.

● Human Tissue Act 2004

is a significant piece of legislation in the United Kingdom that regulates the removal,
storage, use, and disposal of human organs and tissues.