Decomposing body parts carried out of a home near Mumbai in plastic bags and bedsheets brought back memories of the grisly Shraddha Walkar murder case, as police arrested a man for killing his live-in partner and chopping up her corpse and even boiling some pieces in a pressure cooker.
The victim, identified as 32-year-old Saraswati Vaidya, was found in her apartment on the seventh floor of a residential building in Geeta Nagar area of Mira Road, late Wednesday, according to a senior official at the Naya Nagar police station.
Vaidya was living with her partner, Manoj Sane, 56, in a live-in relationship for the past three years, the official said. The couple had been residing in the rented flat during that time.
Police were alerted to the gruesome scene by residents of the building, who complained of an unpleasant odour wafting from Vaidya and Sane's apartment, the official said.
Upon arrival, officers discovered Vaidya's decomposed body, which had been severed into multiple pieces. "A preliminary investigation revealed that the woman was brutally killed," Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Mumbai, Jayant Bajbale, said.
Authorities have since arrested Sane over the horrifying incident. The potential motive for the crime is yet to be disclosed by investigators.
The investigation is currently ongoing, as officials work to piece together the circumstances leading up to Vaidya's violent death. The police said according to Sane, Vidya died by suicide.
"The situation is deeply troubling, and we are committed to finding justice for Ms Vaidya," Mr Bajbale said. "We urge the public to come forward with any information they may have to aid in our investigation."
The incident has uncanny similarities to the Shraddha Walkar murder case that stunned the country last year.
Walkar was a 27-year-old call centre employee who was strangled by her live-in partner Aaftab Poonawala, who then chopped her body into 35 pieces and disposed of them in a forest over 18 days. He also stored some of the body parts in a fridge and charred her face to hide her identity.
The case came to light only six months later, when Walkar's father filed a missing persons complaint after failing to contact her for months. Aaftab Poonawala was arrested by the Delhi police and charged with murder and destruction of evidence.
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