Canada-based woman visiting Navi Mumbai found strangled at Ulwe lodge; man found hanging in same room

NAVI MUMBAI: A 23-year-old woman, who was visiting Navi Mumbai from Canada, was allegedly strangled to death at a lodge in Ulwe, while the 24-year-old man suspected of killing her was found hanging in the same room in the early hours of Thursday

NAVI MUMBAI: A 23-year-old woman, who was visiting Navi Mumbai from Canada, was allegedly strangled to death at a lodge in Ulwe, while the 24-year-old man suspected of killing her was found hanging in the same room in the early hours of Thursday. The incident came to light just hours before the woman was scheduled to fly back to Canada.

The woman, who was employed in Canada, had arrived in India on August 4, 2026, on vacation and was due to board a 5am flight on November 12. On Wednesday, November 11, she left her home around 5pm, telling her parents that she was going for her usual evening walk and would return by 8.40pm. When she failed to return, her father approached the Ulwe police station and lodged a missing-person complaint.

During the search, police showed her photograph to the manager of a lodge in Sector 9, Ulwe. The manager recognised her and informed the police that she was staying in one of the rooms. After repeated knocks on the door went unanswered, police broke it open and entered.

The woman was found lying on the bed with a rope tightly wound around her neck. Blood was reportedly coming out of her mouth, while a yellow blanket had been placed over her body. The man, dressed in a white T-shirt and black night pants, was found hanging from the ceiling fan with a green-and-black nylon rope, his legs dangling over the bed.

Both were taken to the Panvel Sub-District Hospital, where doctors examined the man and declared him dead at 4.50am. A post-mortem examination indicated that the woman had died of strangulation.

During an inspection of the room, police recovered three mobile phones, two of which belonged to the woman, an Aadhaar card identifying the man as a 24-year-old resident of Ghaziabad, and two HDFC Bank debit cards bearing the name “Gaurav”. A half-filled 200ml bottle of Black Label whisky and other articles were also found. A red-and-yellow thread, a container of vermilion (sindoor) and a bottle of oil were recovered from a shelf in the room.

According to the FIR, the alleged murder took place between 6pm on November 11 and 1am on November 12. Police initially registered an accidental death case after the man was found hanging. However, following the doctor’s opinion on the woman’s cause of death and a complaint by her father, Ulwe police registered a murder case under Section 103(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

“Preliminary findings suggest that the woman and the man had been regularly visiting the lodge since August. Neither the woman’s parents have told us about their relationship nor has anyone from the man’s family approached us so far. We are in the process of unlocking their mobile phones to gather more information. The woman was working in the healthcare sector,” said senior police inspector Arjun Rajane.

The nature of the relationship between the two, why they met at the lodge and what led to the woman’s death remain unclear. Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident and the motive behind the suspected murder.