Thane: 3 months later, woman's body found in barrel

Neha's highly decomposed body was upside down when it was found inside the barrel

A highly decomposed body of a 26-year-old woman was recovered from inside a barrel in the wee hours yesterday from a flat in Diva. Police suspect that her partner stabbed her in July and then put the body inside the water-filled barrel in an upside down position.

The partner in question, Manoj Singh, from Uttar Pradesh, was in a relationship with the victim, Neha Pawar for almost a year.

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They lived together in room number 201 of Aarti Apartments in Diva, which the owner objected to and Neha shifted to a room in a nearby slum. However, she often visited Manoj, at times with her four-year-old daughter Shruti. Neha was earlier married, but the husband left her more than a year back. That was when she got into a relationship with Manoj and had planned to get married in a few months time after a divorce.

Left home, never to return
Soon, Neha took up a room on the third floor in the same apartment where Manoj lived and stayed with her parents and Shruti.

Around 8 am on July 11, Neha left her flat informing her 55-year-old father that she is going to her office in Kurla and she never returned. Her parents filed a missing complaint on July 15.

Almost after three months, Chandra Bhoir, the owner of 201 brought in some people on October 3 to show his flat to them, since its occupant, Manoj, had vacated it on July 12 citing that his father is unwell and that he would be catching a train at 5 am to never come back. When he opened the door for showing the bathroom, he found the barrel, opening which Neha's bloated up body was found inside.

Doubt on partner
"We suspect Manoj as the body was found in his room. He left the room suddenly without taking his deposit right after she went missing. The knife that was used for murdering her was found inside the barrel," said Abhishek Trimukhe, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Thane city, Zone 1. He further added that the body has been sent for autopsy while the barrel has been sent for forensic examination.

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Earlier it was just a missing complaint, but now cops have registered a case against suspected accused Manoj under section 302 (Punishment for murder) and 201 (Causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) of the IPC.

Neha's parents, who went back to their native in Madhya Pradesh along with Shruti after the incident, suspect the estranged husband to also be a part of this crime.