Mumbai Mira Road murder: Sisters’ DNA samples taken to match victim’s

Police recover most of the remains of a woman who was allegedly killed and hacked into parts by her live-in partner in their Mira Road apartment in Mumbai.

Two days after 56-year-old Manoj Sane’s arrest for allegedly killing his 32-year-old live-in partner Saraswati Vaidya, and hacking her body into several parts for ease of disposal in their Mira Road apartment on June 4, officials from Nayanagar police station said they have recovered most of the victim’s remains.

According to police, Vaidya gave different versions of her relationship with Sane to different people. She told her sisters that they were wed at a temple a few years ago while she told her other acquaintances that Sane was her maternal uncle. Police have not recovered any proof of their marriage (HT PHOTO)

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On Friday, two of Vaidya’s four sisters were summoned to the police station so that their statements could be recorded. They were also taken to a public hospital in Mira Road where their blood samples were collected and submitted to the Forensic Science Laboratories, in Kalina, for DNA tests to ascertain that the human remains are indeed that of the deceased.

According to police, Vaidya gave different versions of her relationship with Sane to different people. She told her sisters that they were wed at a temple a few years ago while she told her other acquaintances that Sane was her maternal uncle. Police have not recovered any proof of their marriage.

One of Vaidya’s sisters said Sane had promised to give her a better way of life after marriage, which he was unable to fulfil. He owned a ration shop in Borivali in the past, which he shut down a few years ago, put his flat on rent and moved to a rented accommodation in a building owned by his brothers in Mira Road. The Borivali flat fetched him ₹35,000 each month. Their relationship soured and quarrels became common over a period of time.

Police officials said that on June 4 the couple got into another fight and Vaidya threatened to leave him, following which Sane stabbed her with a knife.

Jayant Bajbale, deputy commissioner of police, Mira-Bhayandar, said, “Prima facie it appears that Sane murdered Vaidya because of constant disagreements over the issue of better living. However, we are still investigating the motive and questioning Sane on this.”

Vaidya had moved out of Janakibai Apte orphanage, in Ahmednagar, on turning 18 and lived with her older sisters in Augangabad till 2014. All the five sisters grew up in this orphanage. That year, she came to Mumbai looking for a job and met Sane at his ration shop. He organized the job of a saleswomen at another store which she did for a few months. Their acquaintance developed into a relationship which led to marriage, Vaidya had told her sisters.

Both sisters refused to speak about their youngest sister’s brutal murder. All the sisters are married and live with their respective families.

Sane was arrested in the evening on June 6, after neighbours complained about stench wafting from their flat (704 in J-Wing of Geeta Akashdeep building, in Geeta Nagar Phase 7). When the police entered their flat on the seventh floor, they came upon the horrific sight of buckets, multiple pots and pans full of chopped and minced human flesh, said assistant police inspector Rahul Bhagvat who along with police inspector Jilani Sayyad was the first to enter the 2-bedroom house.

Read here: Mumbai Mira Road murder: Manoj and Saraswati were husband-wife, claim victim's sisters

After killing her, Sane had used an electric saw to hack her body into many parts. For three days after the alleged murder, he had managed to dispose of some of Vaidya’s remains. After his arrest on Wednesday, he offered multiple stories to the police for Vaidya’s death. He first claimed that she had died by suicide on June 4 by consuming poison and fearing that he might be charged with abetment to suicide, he tried to get rid of the body instead of alerting either the neighbours or the police. Subsequently, however, he told the police that the two had had a fight as he suspected her of infidelity, and he stabbed her with a knife and then used the electric saw to cut her up.