Woman’s decomposed body found at Nalasopara home

The woman who was found murdered in her rented house in Nalasopara East. Pics/Hanif Patel

A highly decomposed body of a 30-year-old woman brutally murdered was found inside her rented house in Nalasopara East. The murder suspect is her live-in partner Amol Dabholkar who allegedly slit her throat and chopped her left ankle, said a police officer privy to the investigation. Police have formed teams to arrest Dabholkar, who allegedly is on the run.

It seems that the killer tried to chop off her body but got discouraged or scared. It will be confirmed only when he is questioned after the arrest," said a senior police officer. Another officer told mid-day that after murdering the woman, the killer also tried to break her bones, "as multiple fractures were found on the body", said the officer.

Based on the information given by the deceased's sister, the Tulinj police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Dabholkar under IPC Section 302 (murder) and Sections 66E and 67D of Information Technology (IT) Act.

Tulinj police speaking to residents after the decomposed body of a murdered woman was found in chawl in Nalasopara East. Pic/Hanif Patel

The senior inspector of Tulinj police station, Narendra Nagarkar told mid-day that three teams have been formed to arrest the accused. "Our investigations are underway. The accused is on the run but we will arrest him soon," Nagarkar said.

Various other teams from the Crime Branch of Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police are conducting parallel investigations to nab the suspect. An officer privy to the investigation told mid-day that the deceased woman hailed from Chiplun and was estranged from her husband. It was in Chiplun that the woman allegedly had an affair with Dabholkar who was married. According to the police, Dhabolkar had lured the woman with the promise of marriage after divorcing his wife. Subsequently, the woman gave birth to a son by Dhabolkar.

Dabholkar would take care of the child, but the two would often fight as he had not fulfilled his promise of divorcing his wife and marrying the woman. Unable to placate the woman, Dabholkar decided to end the relationship and he took the child with him. The woman reached Mumbai in 2023.

"She worked as housekeeping staff in Lower Parel and lived in a chawl in Nalasopara East," said a police officer. The sister of the deceased said in the FIR that Dabholkar followed her to Nalasopara. They decided to forget their acrimonious past and live together.

"On October 25, when my husband visited my sister's house on an errand, he saw Dabholkar fighting with her. When I later enquired with my sister, she had revealed Dabholkar picked up a fight with her as he suspected she was being unfaithful. Dabholkar was infuriated when my sister visited her village for two days during Navratri and thrashed her when she returned to Nalasopara on October 25," the sister stated to Tulinj police.

"Next day, on October 26, I went to my sister's house at 4 pm to meet her but the house was locked and I returned home. I called my sister at 8 pm but it was Dabholkar who answered the call. When I asked him about my sister he told me that she left at 6 am for work," she told the cops.

"On October 27, around 11 am, I called my sister again but Dabholkar answered the call and told me that he, too, is searching for my sister. Around 1 pm when my husband was at home, Dabholkar sent a few obscene videos and photos of my sister talking to some men. We deleted those videos and photos," she told the cops.

The crime came to light at 2 pm on October 27, when a foul smell started to emanate in the chawl. "One team immediately reached the spot and recovered the decomposed body of the woman," said an officer attached to Tulinj police station. Meanwhile, the relatives also reached there and identified the body, which was covered with maggots. The police also recovered the murder weapon, a kitchen knife, near the body.