Headless torso found in Navi Mumbai nullah; tattoo only clue

The nullah where the torso was found

The Rabale police of Navi Mumbai have a baffling case on their hands, straight off the pages of a potboiler. On May 6, they found the torso of a woman - with the head and legs missing - in a nullah carrying industrial wastes in MIDC, Rabale. The only clue they have is a Ganesh and Om tattoo on the shoulder of the woman.

Police personnel have fanned out across Mumbai, Thane and neighbouring areas, questioning tattoo artistes and scouring missing persons complaints, in the hopes of finding the woman's identity.

Buried in muck
The woman's remains were fished out of the nullah, 10 ft below a road, after the Navi Mumbai police control room received a tip-off. It passed on the message to the Rabale police, which rushed to the site.

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The Rabale police have registered a case of murder, along with other sections of the IPC, including destruction of evidence, against unknown assailants.

P Jadhav, inspector of Rabale police station, said the torso was partly immersed in the muck of the nullah. "We found a tattoo on the shoulder. Prima facie, we suspect that she was killed elsewhere and her remains were dumped here."

The police have launched a search for the decapitated remains. A parallel investigation has also been launched by the local crime branch. The police feel that the nullah wasn't the scene of murder because only one dried bloodstain was found near a shrub at the spot. "Had the murder been committed at the same spot, there would have been more bloodstains," said DCP (Crime) Tushar Doshi.

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He said the woman's clothing - a greenish-black kameez - hasn't yielded any clue. "By the looks of it, the torso was flung from the road. It was a few metres inside the nullah, which indicates that some stray dogs could have dragged the remains." The nullah is a desolate spot in an area filled with industrial units. "Barring a few shanties, it's a no-man's land. There is no streetlight at the site," said Doshi.

Tattoo artistes in and around Rabale are being questioned, and missing persons complaints in Navi Mumbai, Thane and Mumbai looked into. The police have also expanded the search to missing bar dancers and woman employees of industrial units in the MIDC area.

The only clue - a Ganesh and Om tattoo

Legs chopped after death
Meanwhile, a team from the department of forensic medicine and toxicology, Grant Medical College, have conducted an autopsy of the remains.

Also read: Headless and limbless body of man found in Odisha

A forensic expert from the department said the woman was probably aged 20-30, and her death was caused by decapitation of the neck. "We suspect that more than one person was involved in committing the crime, and that the death was caused by beheading. The legs were separated later to dump the corpse at different locations."

The forensic team has preserved the nail clippings, blood for grouping and viscera for toxicology testing for intoxication or poisoning. Bone samples from the hands have also been preserved for a DNA examination. Vaginal swabs have been preserved to test sexual abuse.

The remains, which are slightly decomposed, have been kept at JJ Hospital's mortuary.