Mumbai Crime: Man arrested for strangulating girlfriend in Santacruz

Pic/Faizan Khan

The Vakola police has booked a 24-year-old man for allegedly killing his girlfriend inside a lodge in Santacruz and then tried to kill himself by throwing himself under a speeding truck in Sewri. The accused identified by the police as Vijay Kumar Harijan has been admitted to a private hospital. He survived the accident and suffered a fracture in his leg. He will be arrested once he is discharged from the hospital, police said.

According to the police, the hotel staff discovered the body of the deceased, identified as Sandhya Harijan (22) inside the room by using spare key, after which they immediately informed the police. The Vakola Police rushed to the spot and sent the body to VN Desai Hospital where she was declared dead before arrival.

"On Saturday night we got a call from the lodge based in Santacruz East. While investigating the scene, it seems that the deceased was strangled with a rope, after the man killed her in cold blood. Harijan left the girl's corpse inside the room and tried to commit suicide by throwing himself under a speeding truck," a police officer said.

According to the police, the deceased and Harijan are residents of Darukhana area in Reay Road. They were planning to get married soon. On Saturday afternoon, between 1.30 pm to 2 pm, the couple checked in one Kailash Lodge at Golibaar Road in Santacruz East.

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"In a primary investigation it is suspected that, the accused Vijay Kumar was suspicious of his girlfriend of cheating on him. When he was also convinced that she will leave her and move on, he planned to kill her to take revenge. On Saturday when both were alone inside the room, he strangulated her with a rope, taking advantage of the situation," said an officer.

"After executing his plans he left the body in the room. The staff of the lodge tried to reach out to them many times but there was no response from the room, the staff then used the duplicate key to open the door and they discovered her body," officer added.

The police also said that they suspects whether she might have been raped by Harijan but the postmortem report is still awaited to confirm the sexual assault angle.

"We are investigating what exactly happened inside the room. The case of murder has been registered against Harijan and he will be arrested once he is discharged from the hospital," said Manoj Kumar Sharma, additional commissioner of West region.

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