Almost a week's investigation later, the local crime branch of Kashimira police have finally managed to solve the murder mystery of a 60-year-old woman, Rita Ronnie Rodrigues, who was living alone in an apartment at Samrudhhi Towers in Mira Road
The deceased, Rita Ronnie Rodrigues; (right) accused, Sonu Verma
Four months ago, when he asked for the woman's car to rush his wife to hospital, she allegedly insulted him saying - 'tera aukat nahi hai gaadi mein baithne ka'
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Almost a week's investigation later, the local crime branch of Kashimira police have finally managed to solve the murder mystery of a 60-year-old woman, Rita Ronnie Rodrigues, who was living alone in an apartment at Samrudhhi Towers in Mira Road. Rodrigues was found dead with multiple stab wounds in her apartment on November 4.
The cops arrested Sonu Rameshchandra Verma aka Sanjay from Kanpur and brought him to Mumbai for further investigation. During interrogation he revealed that he had killed the woman in revenge because she had insulted him four months back.
According to the police, earlier Verma and his wife used to stay in the same building with his elder brother and sister-in-law. He used to help his brother with contractual work for the Railways. Rodrigues, who lived in a different wing of the same building, was found lying in a pool of blood on the day of the incident. She used to run a cold storage in Mira Road.
Speaking to mid-day, an officer of the local crime branch said, "No intention of robbery was revealed during a search of the house. Hence, a murder case was registered against an unknown person and the investigation was started. On checking the CCTV cameras of the building, we found Verma entering and leaving the building on November 4 in one of the footages. A further probe revealed that four months back he went back to his native village in Kanpur."
He further said, "When we asked Verma why he murdered Rodrigues, he said that once he had asked the woman for her car as he had to rush his wife to hospital. Rodrigues not only refused to give him the vehicle, but also insulted him by saying 'tera aukat nahi hai gaadi mein baithne ka' (you don't have the class to sit in the car). As these words hurt him, he killed her."
Police sources said that Verma had come to Mumbai on November 1 to commit the crime. "Last Sunday, he went to Rodrigues's house to wish her for Diwali and give her some sweets. That is when he stabbed her multiple times with a knife and escaped after snatching the jewellery she was wearing and some cash from her purse. All of it was worth Rs 2 lakh," said the officer.
Speaking to mid-day, Pramod Badhak, senior inspector from Thane crime branch said, "CCTV footage helped us trace the accused. He was arrested from Kanpur and brought to Mumbai for a further probe. After being produced in court, he was remanded in judicial custody till November 14."
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