Mira Road Murder: What police found in the flat where man killed his partner, chopped her body, boiled it

Even as the horrific Shraddha Walkar murder case remains fresh in our memory, more gruesome killings continue to grab headlines. A man was arrested from Mira Road, a suburb on the outskirts of Mumbai, for killing his live-in partner. Like in the case of Walkar, the woman’s body was chopped into pieces.

Who is Manoj Sane, the Mira Road murderer?

The accused has been identified as Manoj Sane. The 56-year-old was living with his partner Saraswati Vaidya (36) for the past three years. They met in 2014 at a ration shop, which Sane reportedly owned and started dating soon after. Vaidya was an orphan, who earlier lived in an orphanage in suburban Borivali before moving in with her alleged murderer.

According to reports, Sane’s shop has been shut since 29 May. He has not been going to work since.

The couple has been living in a building in Mira Road’s Geeta Nagar area for three years but kept to themselves.

Police were alerted by residents in the building, where the couple lived on rent, of an unpleasant odour coming from the flat. When they arrived at the seventh-floor house, Sane opened the door.

Sources in the police told News18 that when the officers entered the apartment, it was almost impossible for them to stand because of the strong stench.

#WATCH | 32-year-old woman killed by her 56-year-old live-in partner in Thane, Maharashtra | Police brought accused Manoj Sane out of the Police Station to produce him before the Court. He has been produced before Thane Court. pic.twitter.com/6E4li6tEwf

— ANI (@ANI) June 8, 2023

How and why did he kill his partner?

According to the police, Sane strangled Vaidya and then chopped her body into pieces. The incident reportedly took place on 4 June and since then he has been trying to cover the crime.

Sane reportedly used a tree cutter to cut up the corpse into 20 pieces in the bathroom. Some parts were also found in the kitchen. The accused boiled the pieces in a pressure cooker to ensure there was no foul smell and then filled them in plastic bags to dispose them of.

“A tree cutter was kept in the hall and black plastic was spread all over the bed in the bedroom. The victim’s hair was lying in the bedroom. There were also three buckets kept in the kitchen, in which there were small pieces of the body and it was filled with blood,” a source said. Police also found the leg of the victim.

The accused was seen feeding stray dogs in the locality over the past three days, something he is not known to do, according to a report in The Times of India. The police suspect that Sane may have fed some parts of the victim’s body to strays. They are also investigating if some parts were flushed down the drain.

What has the investigation revealed so far?

When grilled by the police, Sane confessed to domestic violence and first claimed that the victim committed suicide.

However, the police believe it is a case of murder and that the accused was influenced by the “Shraddha Walkar-Aaftab Poonawala murder case”, reports New18. A case has been filed under Section 302 (punishment for murder) and Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence and giving false information) of the India Penal Code.

“A preliminary investigation revealed that the woman was brutally killed,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Mumbai, Jayant Bajbale, was quoted as saying by NDTV. “The situation is deeply troubling, and we are committed to finding justice for Ms Vaidya. We urge the public to come forward with any information they may have to aid in our investigation.”

The murder also invoked a reaction from Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule. Calling the crime “extremely gruesome, inhumane and outrageous", she said criminals no longer have fear of the law in Maharashtra and crimes against women are increasing at an alarming rate.

मुंबई येथील मीरा रोड परिसरात राहणाऱ्या एका व्यक्तीने आपल्या लिव्ह इन् पार्टनरची हत्या केली. नंतर तिच्या मृतदेहाचे तुकडे कुकरमध्ये शिजवून व मिक्सरमध्ये बारीक करुन त्याची विल्हेवाट लावण्याचा प्रयत्न केला. ही घटना अतिशय भीषण, अमानुष आणि संतापजनक आहे.

गुन्हेगारांना या राज्यात…

— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) June 8, 2023

The killing brings to mind the gruesome murder of Walkar, who was also from Maharashtra. She was killed in Delhi by her partner, who chopped her body into more than 30 pieces, stored them in a refrigerator and scattered it in a nearby forested area over 18 days.

The case came to light six months after the killing when Walkar's father filed a missing person complaint. Aaftab Poonawala was arrested by the Delhi police and charged with murder and destruction of evidence.

With inputs from agencies

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