‘What should I bring from the market?’: Rubi’s last call to her mother before being found dead in a suitcase in Rautahat

A 26-year-old woman from Rautahat, Rubi Kumari Sah, went missing on Saturday evening after leaving her rented room in Madhav Narayan Municipality-2. She had called her mother, Mithila Devi Sah, around 6 pm asking if anything was needed from the market in Gaur. Her mother replied that nothing was needed. That was their last conversation.

Rubi did not return home that night. The next morning, her mother heard the shocking news: a woman’s body had been found inside a suitcase.

Police said they received a call around 10 pm Saturday night about a suspicious suitcase tied with a rope left on the roadside near Belbichuwa police post. Because of safety concerns, they guarded the area overnight without opening it. On Sunday morning, a team led by DSP Raju Karki inspected the suitcase on the Gaur–Sirsiya road at Mudwal Gate.

When they opened it, they discovered a woman’s body stuffed inside. DSP Karki said he had never seen such a case before. The body had no major injuries or cuts, but there was some blood near the nose. The hands and legs had been bent and tightly packed inside.

Police later confirmed the body was Rubi, the same woman who had gone to Gaur market the previous evening.

Police believe she was murdered, packed into the suitcase, and abandoned. The body was sent to Provincial Hospital Gaur for postmortem.

Rubi, who was married in India to Shiv Sagar Sah from Muzaffarpur about five years ago, had been living in a rented room in Rautahat with her mother and 4-year-old son. Her family said she stayed there because of her son’s schooling. The location where the suitcase was found is about 5 km from her rented room and also close to the Nepal–India border.

Because of this, police suspect she may have been killed in India and her body brought into Nepal. They are also checking CCTV footage from nearby areas to trace movements.

Rubi’s husband, mother, and brother have been contacted for investigation.

One missing clue is her mobile phone, which was not found with the body. Police think the killer may have taken or destroyed it. Her phone’s last known location was in Gaur, but it was later switched off.

Madhesh Province DIG Umaprasad Chaturvedi said the case is being investigated from all angles, including possible cross-border involvement.