Woman living alone at home found dead in Bengaluru

Police officials at the spot where a woman's body was found inside a refrigerator at Vyalikaval in Bengaluru on September 21, 2024. | Image credit: ANI

In a shocking incident, a 26-year-old woman living alone at home was murdered on Saturday. Her body was dismembered into several pieces and stuffed in the refrigerator of the house where she lived at Vinayaka Nagar in Vyalikaval.

The deceased was identified as Mahalakshmi of Nelamangala. The victim worked in a mall and was living in the rented house for the last five months.

The police suspect that the murder may have taken place two weeks ago, as the body parts were badly decomposed and worms were found in them.

The murder came to light when her neighbour complained to the police about a foul smell emanating from the locked house. Police got the contact number of the victim's family from the house owner. When the family members returned home and opened the door, they were shocked to find body parts dismembered into several pieces kept in the refrigerator, a police official said.

While examining the crime scene, police and FSL teams found Mahalakshmi's mobile phone, which police said was switched off on September 2. Based on the decomposed body parts and electronic evidence recovered from the crime scene, it is suspected that she was murdered and her body parts were chopped up in the house and then stuffed in the refrigerator.

Mahalakshmi hails from Nepal and was married to one Hemanth Das five years ago. The couple has a four-year-old child. Police said the couple had differences and she left him in Nelamangala and moved to Bengaluru alone. She worked as a salesperson in a shop in a mall.

Her husband visited her from time to time, police said. However, she lived alone in the rented house and did not communicate much with the neighbors.

Sunil, her brother, who works in a shop in Koramangala, said Mahalakshmi had not been in touch with him for many days. “I was informed by one of the relatives and came to her. We have neither spoken to each other nor met for many days,” he told the media.

A woman from the neighbourhood said Mahalakshmi had moved to the first floor of the building five months ago. “She hardly stayed at home and did not speak to anyone as she would leave at 9.30 am and return only after 10.30 pm. A man stayed with her for a few days claiming to be her brother. We did not even know that she was married,” the neighbour told the media.

The police inquire at her workplace why the management did not try to control her when she was absent from work without permission.

There was a man who often picked her up and dropped her off, police said. Based on the complaint, police have registered a murder case and are trying to trace the man.

Police are also analyzing her call data to locate her male friend, who is considered the prime suspect in the case.