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35-yr-old woman, killed by live-in partner in March, found in fridge in MP’s Dewas
Dewas SP Puneet Gehlot said Pratibha was killed in March 2024 by her live-in partner Sanjay Patidar, 41
BHOPAL: A 41-year-old man killed his live-in partner in March last year and kept her body in a refrigerator for nearly 10 months before it was discovered in Madhya Pradesh’s Dewas district, police said on Friday after the suspect’s arrest from Ujjain 40km away.
On Friday afternoon, tenants complained of foul smell emanating from the room that had been retained by the suspect Sanjay Patidar when he vacated the house in June last year.
One of the tenants, Balveer Rajput, opened the locked room and found the body in the refrigerator. “People complained of the foul smell and on inspection of the house, we found the body,” Dewas superintendent of police Puneet Gehlot said.
Gehlot said the woman, identified as Pratibha Patidar, was allegedly killed in March 2024 by her live-in partner Sanjay Patidar.
Sanjay was arrested from Ujjain hours after the body was found.
“Both hands of the woman were found tied in the fridge. During investigation, it was found that the woman Pratibha Patidar used to live with Sanjay Patidar in this house before Balveer Rajput moved in July 2024. The locals said Pratibha had not been seen since March 2024 while Sanjay left the house in June 2024.”
According to the police, Sanjay told investigators that he had been in a live-in relationship with Pratibha for the past five years. “In 2023, he shifted to Dewas with her and told the neighbours that they were married,” a police officer said.
Relations between the two started souring in January 2024 when Pratibha started pushing Sanjay to formalise their relationship. But he refused and they often argued about it.
In March, Sanjay decided to kill her with the help of his friend Vinod Dave. The two allegedly strangled her, tied up her hands and stuffed her body in the refrigerator.
Sanjay surrendered the house to the landlord but retained one room, ostensibly to keep his belongings for some time. “Sanjay used to sometimes come to the house,,” said the SP.
(with inputs from Nitin Gupta from Dewas)
