Washington, Jan 30:Indian-origin presidential hopeful Kamala Harris' town hall on CNN with an average of 1.957 million viewers got the network its highest ratings ever for such an event with an individual election candidate, according to the network.

Harris, 54, who was elected to the Senate in 2016, announced her run for presidency last week. She has been voted on top of the list of Democratic leaders aspiring to defeat President Donald Trump in the November 2020 election.

Harris, the second African-American woman elected to the US senate, has drawn comparisons to Barack Obama since early in her political career.

CNN announced Tuesday that the broadcast was the most-watched cable news single candidate election town hall, according to Nielsen data.

The live event on Monday averaged 1.957 million viewers, a figure far greater than CNN's previous four town halls, which attracted an average audience of 1.119 million each, the network said in a statement.

Monday night's CNN Town Hall with Harris was the most watched cable news single candidate election town hall ever, the news network said in a statement.

The town hall averaged 712,000 among adults 25-54 from 10-11pm, easily topping all cable news competition.

CNN was also number one in prime time in the demos, it said. In the townhall, Harris reflected on her various policy issues, responding to questions from the audience.

Moderated by CNN anchor Jake Tapper, the Town Hall with Kamala Harris propelled CNN to 945,000 total day live starts across digital platforms on Monday.

The California Senator is hoping to capitalize on high early fundraising numbers and enthusiasm from the base before the Democratic primary field.

It was reported last week that the Harris campaign raised more than $1.5 million in online donations in the 24 hours since she announced her candidacy for president. She also held a highly publicised rally Sunday to officially kick off her presidential bid.

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Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.

The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.

Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.

"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.

Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.

“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.

Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.

"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.

The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.

Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.

"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.

The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.

Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.