"We checked the terrace and didn’t find anything. By evening, the smell was so strong, that we had to check the sewage pipes. By Wednesday evening, the stench had become unbearable so I informed the secretary. Around 6.30 pm, we found that the door to the flat from which the smell was coming was closed and immediately informed the cops,” said the neighbor. The police rushed to the spot. As an officer was heading to the ground floor to find out more about the flat’s occupants, a neighbour pointed to the accused, who happened to be entering the building at the time. Two constables then opened the door of his house and found the remains in the kitchen of the 2BHK flat. The constables then informed their seniors and dozens of police officers, the DCP and crime branch officials rushed to the spot. Pic/PTI

The accused was arrested on June 8 and produced in court the same day. He was remanded in police custody till June 16. He revealed to the cops that he had been in a relationship with the deceased for 13 years and they were living together for five years in the flat. “They would fight regularly and his partner doubted his character. After another fight on Sunday, she allegedly consumed poison and committed suicide in his absence,” said an officer.

The accused told the cops that when he found the deceased inside the bedroom, he got scared and fearing arrest, he decided to dispose of the body. “Influenced by web-series and the Shraddha Walkar murder case, he began chopping the dead body. First, he cut the body into three pieces and then he chopped it further and separated the bone from the flesh,” an officer said. Pic/PTI

An officer said, “From June 4, the accused would boil the body parts in a pressure cooker and store them in hot water. Late at night, he would toss them to dogs near the railway tracks. On Wednesday evening, he took his bike to feed strays near the tracks and when he returned, the cops caught him at the society gate.” According to the police, the accused used to reside in the G block in the same society earlier but shifted to this flat three years ago.

The police collected all the remains from the residence and sent them to JJ hospital for a post-mortem to determine if the deceased had indeed consumed poison. A senior police officer said, “We do not believe the story narrated by the accused, which he told to us to avoid murder charges. Our theory is he stabbed his live-in partner and later chopped her body into multiple pieces to dispose of the evidence.” The police have recovered a hexa cutter, knife, five to six utensils and the pressure cooker from the residence, which were used for disposing of the remains. Pic/PTI

The police are investigating multiple angles. According to them, the accused lost his job and was frustrated as he had no source of income. The accused was also suffering from HIV and he was supposedly worried about the woman’s future and who would take care of her. “The accused could have killed the woman because she doubted his character,” a police officer said.

The railway tracks visited by the accused are merely 100 metres from the society where the couple stayed. According to neighbours, the couple used to go to the spot for morning walks but since Sunday, the woman had not been seen anywhere. Pic/PTI

The 56-year-old, who killed his live-in partner, has told the police that he is HIV+, and that their relationship was purely platonic, according to sources. While police are verifying his claim of being HIV+, they will also be checking if the woman was also infected with the virus.

Police said the two met in 2010, while the woman was roaming in the AMPC market in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. The accused, who then worked at the ration office at Babhai Naka in Borivli West, would regularly go there. An Ahmednagar resident, the woman was an orphan. The man, after meeting her at the market,  took her home to work as a house help, said a cop.

“In a few months, the woman also fell in love with him. Five years ago, they shifted to Mira Road,” the cop added, citing information given by the accused. “The accused said that due to the HIV infection, he never established a physical relationship with the woman. But he loved her a lot and wanted to marry her, but didn’t do so to save her life,” the officer said.

Born in Babhai area of Borivli West, the man lost his father 10 years ago and mother eight years ago. Having education in Industrial Training Institute courses, he ran a milk centre in Gorai, but the forest department demolished it several years ago. He then started working at The Villagers Consumer's ration shop in Borivli West. Pic/Hanif Patel