Saraswati Vaidya, the 32-year-old whose body was found in pieces after her murder allegedly by her live-in partner in Mumbai, met him in 2014 at a ration shop.
56-year-old Manoj Sane worked at the shop. They soon started dating and moved in together.
The body of Saraswati Vaidya, who was an orphan, was found scattered in her seventh-floor apartment at Mira Road on Wednesday evening. The police arrived to a horrific sight. Some parts were found in buckets, some were boiled in a cooker.
The fetid stench alerted neighbours to something amiss next door.
Manoj Sane was not married. He has a house in Borivali, where some of his family members live, but he had been staying apart from his family. The ration shop where he worked was also in Borivali. The shop had shut on May 29, he told the police.
Sane and Saraswati Vaidya had lived together in apartment no. 704 for the past five years. Police sources said Sane has told them they used to fight frequently.
The couple largely kept to themselves; many neighbours learnt their names only after the murder.
The murder was revealed when the police broke into the apartment around 7 pm on Wednesday. Saraswati was murdered on Sunday, the police believe.
A neighbour, Somesh Srivastava, had alerted the authorities to the foul smell from the couple's flat. He went to the couple's home to check the source of the odour.."No one opened the door at the first knock. I heard a sound of a spray after which Manoj Sane came out," he said.
"Manoj Sane told me he was going out for some work. I then alerted the building administration and we immediately informed the police," he said.
The decomposing body parts were taken out in plastic bags and bedsheets. "The body parts that were recovered have been sent to the JJ Hospital in Mumbai for analysis. A case of murder has been registered at the Naya Nagar police station," said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mira Road, Jayant Bajbale.
Sane claimed that his partner had consumed poison and died by suicide.
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