Navi Mumbai cops identify murder victim by tattoos on her arms; killer held

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Navi Mumbai Police identified a 70-year-old woman, who was killed and her face disfigured by her attacker, with the help of tattoos on her arms and also arrested the accused, a 26-year-old footpath-dweller, an official said on Tuesday.

The woman, a resident of Govandi in Mumbai, was killed near the Vashi bridge earlier this month after she resisted the rape bid by the accused who slit her throat and smashed her head with a stone, he said.

Her body was found stuffed in a gunny bag in a highly decomposed condition.

The official said it was a tough task for the police to identify the deceased and the murderer.

"Navi Mumbai Police checked the missing person complaints and scanned through at least 150 such cases in the limits of the Thane, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai police stations. The description of a missing woman from Govandi matched with the body as she had two tattoos on her arms," he told reporters.

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The police came to know that the woman was spotted near the Inorbit mall signal in Vashi on July 29 where an unidentified man approached her.

An autorickshaw driver identified the accused, the official said, adding the accused had cut short his hair from front to change his look to evade arrest.

"The accused, identified as Kanifnath Kamble, had taken the old woman near the bridge of the Inorbit mall promising her food but tried to rape her. However, when she resisted, Kamble slit her throat with a piece of broken glass. He smashed her face and head with a huge stone. He stuffed her body in a gunny bag and fled," Vashi police station inspector Prakash Todarmal said.

The accused was arrested on August 22, police said.

"The two tattoos on both the arms of the victim helped the police identify the victim and reach the accused," he said.

A case was registered under section 302 (Punishment for murder) and 201 (Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

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