Serial killer Ram Saroop, also known as Sodhi, made the horrifying admission during his police interrogation that his heinous acts were motivated by severe emotional distress and disparaging remarks about his sexual orientation.
The 33-year-old worker, who mostly worked on Punjabi highways, admitted that his final murder was directly related to comments that made fun of his identity and body. According to Sodhi, who pretended to be a woman in order to entice his victims, his mental turmoil drove him to seek retribution, which led to the killing of at least 11 males in the previous 18 months.
Sodhi disclosed throughout the investigation that he was so enraged and felt betrayed that he would frequently target men who made fun of him or refused to pay for the sex services he had rendered. In one especially graphic instance, Sodhi revealed that his final victim, 37-year-old Maninder Singh, had made fun of his sexual orientation and disparaged his physique.
Sodhi claims that the victim killed Maninder during an apparently innocent motorbike lift because of the victim’s remarks, which served as a trigger. Police recovered a crucial clue at the crime scene: Sodhi’s silencer, which he had left behind. Maninder’s body was eventually located close to Kiratpur Sahib. He was ultimately apprehended as a result of this piece of evidence.
After a difficult childhood, Sodhi turned to crime, admitting that his infatuation with looking like a woman began when he was a child and would covertly don women’s clothing and cosmetics while his parents weren’t around. After relocating to Dubai in 2005, he started to develop his sexual identity, and by the time he was 22, he had accepted his homosexuality. However, it appeared that his mentality was severely impacted by the rejection and insults he received from some of his victims, which drove him to carry out violent deeds.
The murders committed by Sodhi were not merely impulsive violent crimes. He especially targeted males who had sex with him and then either rejected him or did not comply with his expectations. He assassinated Harpreet Singh, a former Army man, in early 2024 following a financial argument. This was his first murder. Following their sexual experience, the victim had refused to give Sodhi the agreed-upon sum. In a hideous act of retaliation, Sodhi inscribed “dhokebaaz” (cheater) in red ink on Harpreet’s body after killing her out of rage over the rejection. His murders were signed with this message. In order to express regret for the atrocity he had committed, Sodhi admitted during the investigation that he had written “dhokebaaz” on the victims’ backs.
Several areas, including Roopnagar, Hoshiarpur, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Sirhind, were affected by Sodhi’s crime spree. His victims included security guards and mechanics, and in certain instances, he would entice them with a lift request, have a quick sexual encounter, and then kill them if they didn’t pay him.
Six confirmed murders have been connected to Sodhi by police investigations, and five more are still being looked at. A apparently insignificant error led to Sodhi’s capture despite the savagery of his crimes: he left his silencer at one of the crime locations. He frequently donned the item of clothing as part of his disguise, and it turned out to be a vital clue that helped investigators apprehend him. He was seen looking for additional possible victims while disguised as a woman the night he was apprehended.
