BENGALURU: In a crime reminiscent of the gruesome Shraddha Walkar case in Delhi in 2022, a 29-year-old woman was found brutally murdered in her house in Bengaluru, her body chopped into more than 30 pieces and stuffed in a refrigerator.
The death came to light around 3.30pm on Saturday when the victim’s mother and elder sister, summoned by the house owner following a stench from the apartment where the victim lived, opened the main door and then the refrigerator.
The victim has been identified as H Mahalakshmi Das, an employee at a mall and residing on the first floor of a building on Pipeline Road in Vyalikaval. She lived there alone in a one-bedroom accommodation, with building owner Jayaram residing on the ground floor of the same building. The incident has sent shock waves among the neighbours.
Police: Surprising her family didn’t contact her for so long
Originally from Nepal, Mahalakshmi’s parents had settled in Nelamangala at least a couple of decades back, police said.
They said a neighbour on Saturday alerted Jayaram about a foul smell emanating from his building. Jayaram then called Mahalakshmi’s mother and elder sister, who lived on the next road, and told them to check on Mahalakshmi. They found the front door bolted from outside. Once the door was forced open, insects and worms could be seen swarming on the floor, with some popping out of the 165-litre single-door fridge. Sensing something rotting in it, they opened the fridge, and both passed out seeing the decomposed body parts.
Building owner alerted cops
Neighbours said Mahalakshmi was residing there for five months. During the initial days, her elder brother also stayed with her. Mahalakshmi had separated from her husband, who lives with their child in Nelamangala.
Police are trying to ascertain if there were one or more killers. ACP, western division, Sateesh Kumar, said the investigation would probably be long drawn. Police said the woman could have been killed on or after Sept 2 – the day her mobile phone was switched off. They are checking the call records. “It is surprising that none of her family members tried to contact her for so long. We will question them on this” an officer said.
Cops in masks
The stench at the crime scene was so pungent that some of the neighbours initially mistook some dead stray animal as its likely source. Even cops were seen entering the crime scene in masks to battle the foul smell.
Susheela (name changed), a neighbour, said Mahalakshmi never interacted with them, and they were unaware of the fact that she was married. “All that we know was she would go for her job in a mall at 9.30 am and return by 10.30 pm,” she said.
A few other neighbours recalled a man picking up Mahalakshmi in the morning and dropping her home back at night. Her cousin Sunil, a resident of Koramangala, said she never interacted much with him.
Police suspect the killer was probably known to the victim. The fact that valuables were touched indicates that the murder was not for material gains, they added.