Missing 20-year-old woman’s body found a week later at Raigad creek

A 20-year-old woman who went missing was found dead in a creek in Raigad. Police believe she was upset about failing an exam and family issues.

Navi Mumbai: A 20-year-old woman who was reported missing on August 23 from Kasar Bhat village, Panvel, was found dead in a Raigad creek early Thursday morning. According to police officials, some issues at home and personal front weighed the deceased, Priyanka Tandel down.

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The police said she failed her second-year BA examination and also had a fight with her parents who objected to her spending long hours on her smartphone. Plus, her elder sister who was pregnant received special care at home and she was assigned household chores. All this triggered the woman, who left her home without telling anyone.

When she did not return home till evening, her family started looking for her and found her footwear near a creek in the Kasar Bhat area. The family members then registered a missing person’s complaint with Panvel taluka police and they tried to locate the woman in the creek but could not find her. After more than a week, in the early hours of Thursday, local fishermen from Dadar Sagari area in Pen taluka of Raigad district informed the police about seeing a body in the creek. “We started searching for the body and finally located it near Vasheni creek. Though we started the search in our jurisdiction, the body had drifted away and by the time we found it, it was in the jurisdiction of Uran police. But since it was late in the night, we did the procedure, got the post-mortem done and later informed Uran police. The post-mortem mentioned the cause of death as drowning,” police inspector Ajit Gole from Dadar Sagari police station said.

“Once we get the documents, we would register a case of accidental death and forward the same to Panvel taluka police station as the missing case was registered there,” senior police inspector Satish Nikam from Uran police station said.

Besides being upset about failing the exam and subsequently fighting with her family, the police also believe that she was upset as her elder sister who was pregnant and due for delivery was at their home.

“Since the elder sister was home, Priyanka was assigned some household chores as the sister was spared work due to pregnancy. This irked Priyanka too,” a police officer said. “There is no foul play in the case and is a clear case of drowning,” senior police inspector Anil Patil from Panvel Taluka police station said.