Palghar: Woman murdered by live-in partner feared he would kill her

The killer with his wife and child seen in CCTV footage in the lift in the victim’s building; (right) Manohar Shukla in police custody. Pics/Hanif Patel

A 28-year-old make-up artist from Maharashtra's Palghar district, who was murdered allegedly by her live-in partner, had confided in her sister, expressing her fear that her partner posed a real threat to her life - a fear that tragically came true, as detailed in the First Information Report (FIR) filed with the police.

The accused, a 43-year-old man employed in the film industry and married to another, is suspected of committing the heinous act in response to the victim's refusal to withdraw a rape complaint she had filed against him several years ago, reports said.

This horrifying incident is believed to have transpired between August 9 and 12, culminating in the arrest of the accused, a resident of Vasai city, on Tuesday. Adding to the chilling nature of the case, his wife has also been taken into custody, suspected of being complicit in the crime, an official from Naigaon police station told PTI on Wednesday.

Both of them were on Tuesday produced before a local court which remanded them in police custody till September 16, he said. The victim's body was found packed in a suitcase in a creek at Valsad in neighbouring Gujarat, an official said on Tuesday. The police in Valsad had registered an ADR (Accidental Death Report) and cremated the body as no one came forward to claim it, he said.

As per preliminary investigation, after killing the woman by drowning her, the body was packed in a suitcase before it was dumped in a creek.

The Naigaon police Monday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the accused under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) based on a complaint by the victim's sister.

Also read: Maharashtra: Killer couple held for ‘packing off' pesky ex-GF

As per the FIR, the victim once told her sister that she feared the man would kill her.

The complainant told the police that she stayed for one month with the victim in July at Naigaon in Vasai, where the latter was residing in a housing society since April this year.

She further stated that it in 2019, the accused allegedly attacked the victim and the latter then filed a complaint with the Virar police.

The victim also filed a rape complaint against the accused in 2019 based on which the Valiv police here had registered a case against him, as per the FIR.

The victim's sister in her complaint further said that on August 12 this year, a make-up man informed her that the victim could not be reached as her mobile phone was switched off. There was also no update on her social media accounts.

On August 14, the victim's sister filed a missing person's complaint with the Naigaon police.

According to the complaint, the accused was pressuring the victim to withdraw the complaints filed against him and if she did not do so, he allegedly threatened to kill her. Hence, the victim was afraid him, according to the FIR.

The accused also once threatened the victim in front of her sister, it said.

As the victim had refused to withdraw the rape complaint, she and the accused used to have frequent quarrels, the FIR stated. (With inputs from PTI)