Woman found dead in Ambarnath hotel, partner at large

The woman, identified as Shahajahan Akhtar, has a 22-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter. According to the Ambarnath police, she got married 24 years ago but left her husband 12 years back and started living with her boyfriend

Thane: On Saturday, the staff of Hotel Sai Leela at Ambarnath were in for a shock when it was brought to their notice that there was a dead body in one of their rooms. The 47-year-old deceased woman had reportedly come to Ambarnath hotel with her 40-year-old live-in partner on June 24.

Woman found dead in Ambarnath hotel, partner at large

The partner, who is now an accused, vanished from the hotel room after messaging the woman’s family about her death. The Ambarnath police have sent the body for a postmortem, and a search for her live-in partner is on.

The woman, identified as Shahajahan Akhtar, has a 22-year-old son and a 20-year-old daughter. According to the Ambarnath police, she got married 24 years ago but left her husband 12 years back and started living with her boyfriend. Her children, husband and sister initially tried to search for her, but to no avail since she left with no contact details.

“Akhtar’s son and her sister suddenly got a message from an unknown number saying she was dead and mentioning the hotel details,” said senior police inspector, Ashok Bhagat. “Her shocked family rushed to the hotel. The door was locked, and was opened by a key provided by the hotel staff who didn’t know about the incident. Her live-in partner left on Thursday, making half the hotel payment.”

The message which the family received on Friday stated, “Your sister is suffering from tuberculosis and some other major disease. I took care of her all these years, she died. I am living here in Hotel Sai Leela in Ambarnath. Kindly collect her body and do the last rites.”

Bhagat said that the woman’s family informed the police, who sent the body for a postmortem. “There are no injuries on her body but we are awaiting the final postmortem report,” he said. “Her family doesn’t know her live-in partner. We are searching for him, as the number from which his message came is not working now. We have registered an accidental death report for now and the search for her partner is going on.”

A police officer from Ambarnath police station narrated the pain of the deceased woman’s children, who were seeing her after so many years. “Her son, who had given up all hope after searching for a few years, was angry with her,” he said. “But when he saw her body, he couldn’t control his emotions. He had been missing his mother and her love, and broke down when he saw her dead body.”