31-year-old held for lover’s murder near Mumbai

A 31-year-old man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly killing his girlfriend, 24, on August 9 and hanging her body on a tree along the Mumbai-Nashik Highway to pass off the crime as suicide.

According to the police, the accused committed the crime because the woman refused to marry him.

On August 12, Kongaon police received a call from some pipeline workers in the area, who discovered the body of the woman hanging on a tree with a dupatta near Tata Amantra society.

“We registered a case of accidental death first and started investigating the matter. The body was sent to Sir JJ Hospital for further investigation,” a police officer said.

Meanwhile, the police began the process to establish the identity of the victim.

The discovered that on August 10, a missing complaint was filed by a woman at Bazarpeth police station in Kalyan. The police called the woman and learnt that the complaint was filed by the victim’s sister. On August 13, the woman’s sister identified her body.

“The victim is a divorcee and lived with her sister and mother in Kalyan. She worked as a domestic help in some societies. On August 9, when she didn’t return home from work, her sister approached the police to file a missing complaint,” the officer added.

Senior inspector Sanju John from Kalyan crime branch said, “During the investigation, we discovered that the accused and the woman were having an affair. The accused, who worked as an ambulance driver, resided near the victim’s home. He is also divorced. We discovered that he was absconding since four days. We began our search for him and found him on Saturday from Dombivli station. After interrogating him, he confessed to the crime.”

The accused wanted to marry her, but she refused, leading to a fight between the two.

“On August 9, the accused got drunk and asked the woman’s mother where she was. Later, he went to the society where the victim worked and forced her to get into a rickshaw. He took her inside the bushes near Tata Amantra on the pretext of resolving the fight. But when she again refused to marry him, the accused strangled her with her dupatta and hanged her on a nearby tree and fled,” added John.

Kongaon police have registered a murder case against the accused and have taken his custody.