Missing girl died the same day, but cops and family never knew

The last sighting of Aarti in a CCTV camera near her Chembur residence

Ten months since the disappearance of 17-year-old Aarti Rithadiya, whose shoemaker father Pancharam committed suicide in mid-October over police inaction, the cops finally discovered the girl's fate. Turns out the teenager's body, found by Wadala GRP on the day she disappeared, had been lying unclaimed at Sion hospital while her kin desperately looked for her.

Two months after being found, Aarti's body was disposed of as per protocol by authorities. Aarti was apparently knocked down by a train and her body was found between Chembur and Tilak Nagar on March 30.

Distressed over Aarti's disappearance, Pancharam ended his life by jumping in front of a running train in Tilak Nagar on October 13. Based on a suicide note he left, the Wadala Government Railway Police (GRP) had registered a case of abetment and arrested the five men - including Bhagchand Fulwaria, 23, who allegedly used to threaten the Rithadiya family - named in the note.

Pancharam Rithadiya and daughter Aarti Rithadiya

The case was transferred to the Mumbai crime branch, which scanned CCTV footage of the area where Aarti was last seen, sifted through case files of Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Palghar police, then moved to cases of unclaimed bodies with the GRP - which denied having found any. Cops checked at correctional homes, marriage bureaus and at her native place but returned empty-handed.

Breakthrough at Sion hosp
"While scanning the ADR (Accidental Death Report) files at Sion Hospital on January 30, Assistant Sub Inspector Ashok Ambre noticed a case. It was about an unclaimed body. He procured the photo of the deceased and her clothes from the hospital. These were shown to Aarti's mother, Manju, and sister, Pooja. Both recognised the picture and the blood-soaked clothes as Aarti's," said deputy commissioner of police (detection) Akbar Pathan.

The Wadala GRP had recovered Aarti's body between Tilak Nagar and Chembur. However, Wadala GRP failed to trace her relatives.

Turned violent with his supporters attacking police

Senior police inspector of Wadala GRP, Rajendra Pal, told mid-day that he had circulated Aarti's photo among the police network to establish her identity. "No one came to claim her body. After so much hue and cry and the suicide of her father, we learn that his daughter was the unidentified girl," he said.

"Pancharam had initially produced Aarti's Aadhaar card and school leaving certificate, which said she is an adult and her place of birth is Mumbai. Then, he procured her birth certificate from Rajasthan, which said she is a minor. We then filed a missing person's case and added the charge of kidnapping," said senior inspector of Nehru Nagar police Vilas Shinde. "We had also sent her photographs to all police stations and GRP posts but we received no response from anyone. We had been doing our investigation properly," he added.

Case of planted suicide note
"Immediately after Pancharam's suicide, his son reached the spot before our team arrived and planted the suicide note in his pocket. I have alerted the Nehru Nagar police regarding the same as the suicide note was made to go viral by his son. We had not told anyone about it. This matter needs thorough investigation by Nehru Nagar police," Pal claimed.

The funeral procession of Pancharam Rithadiya

"We cannot say whether someone planted the suicide or Pancharam himself wrote it. The case is with the crime branch," Shinde said.

A senior crime branch officer told mid-day, "Had the Wadala GRP acted sensibly in the ADR of the unidentified body found on March 30, the riots could have been averted and Pancharam's life could have been saved."

After Pancharam's suicide, his family had initially refused to take his body in protest against the Nehru Nagar police's inaction. Cops had to face the ire of hundreds of protestors who took to the streets, vandalising police vans and public property on October 22. Several policemen deployed in the bandobast were injured in the riot-like situation. Cops had then resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the mourners who had turned violent.

An advocate appearing on behalf of Pancharam had filed a Habeas Corpus in the Bombay High Court, alleging that the conduct of Nehru Nagar police station's senior inspector was questionable. Police will now approach court to get the five arrested men in the abetment case released.

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