Mumbai: In a bizarre and horrific incident, a man from the Palghar district of Maharashtra killed a woman and later raped her dead body, the police officials told the media on Saturday.
The residents of the area are shocked after the beastly crime came to light where a shop-keeper murdered a female customer and then had sex with the corpse in the already tensed situation of the coronavirus induced lockdown.
The accused Shiva Choudhary, 30, owner of a novelty shop in Nalasopara town was arrested on Friday and remanded to police custody till July 12, said crime branch official SantoshGurjar.
The investigation kickstarted when a man reported the police of his missing wife on June 26th. He was a resident of the Priyanka Complex on AcholeTalav road and filed a complaint with the Tulinj Police Station 24 hours after he couldn’t find his wife.
The victim had gone to purchase some household items at the accused’s novelty store on June 26th. She then had a dispute with him regarding the pricing of the materials there.
This angered Choudhary and he slapped the woman, throwing her down. He then took her to the backside of his store, dragging her by the hair along the way.
Choudhary tried to kill her by strangulating the neck and when he wasn’t successful in doing so, he slit her throat with a knife. He then fulfilled his filthy desire and raped the dead body.
To dispose the corpse, at around 3am on June 27th, the accused wrapped her body and dumped it in a jeep van. The vehicle was parked at around half a kilometer from his store.
A day later on June 28, locals complained of a foul stench emanating from the van and alerted the police. A team was rushed to find the body which was later identified by her husband.
Later, the post-mortem report revealed that the victim was sexually assaulted after her brutal murder.
The police team immediately sprang into action and probed the CCTV footage of the entire area. They then arrested the suspected shop-keeper, Choudhary.
According to the police, the accused confessed to his crime during the interrogation.
“He was picked up and during sustained interrogation, confessed to murdering the woman and then having sex with her corpse. Thereafter, he was placed under arrest and further investigations are on,” Gurjar.
Choudhary’s wife and children lived in the Pali village of Rajasthan since a year while he was alone here, a police official said. This distance dint let him control his urge to carry out the dirty act after murdering the woman.
“He had no previous acquaintance with the victim and we shall also probe whether he had any mental issues after he violated the body,” said the official.
Gurjar, who helped crack this first of its kind case in the district, said the accused is charged with murder and rape and will be brought before the court for maximum punishment.
