Body parts of woman recovered from drum in Andhra, killer held say police

The police said Rishi, who originally belonged to East Godavari district, migrated to Srikakulam district in search of livelihood a few years ago and got married to a woman from Ponduru town there.

The police in Andhra Pradesh’ Visakhapatnam on Tuesday unravelled the mystery behind the decomposed body parts of an unidentified woman recovered from a tightly sealed plastic drum from a house in the port city.

The police have registered a case of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code

“We have identified the killer, Koppishetty Rishivardhan (31) alias Rishi, who admitted to have killed the 23-year-old woman, an alleged sex worker, way back in May 2021. We are yet to ascertain the identity of the victim,” Visakhapatnam (north) assistant commissioner of police Ch Srinivasa Rao said.

He said Rishi had admitted to have killed the woman by tightening her neck with her “chunni” (scarf). “He chopped her body into pieces, packed them in plastic bags and stuffed them in a plastic drum. Since he tightly sealed the drum with adhesive tapes to make it airtight, not much foul smell emanated from the container,” the ACP said.

Another police official, who refused to come on record, said the victim was tentatively identified as Dhana Lakshmi, a sex worker from Srikakulam, based on the details revealed by the accused.

“But we are yet to confirm the details. We could find only skeletal parts without any flesh. We are sending the same for forensic examination. We are also enquiring with other police stations whether any missing case was registered around the period of murder. Only then can we disclose the victim’s identity,” the police official said.

The police said Rishi, who originally belonged to East Godavari district, migrated to Srikakulam district in search of livelihood a few years ago and got married to a woman from Ponduru town there.

Later, he came to Visakhapatnam in 2019 and joined as a worker in an iron welding shop being run by A Ramesh. He stayed in a small tin-roofed house belonging to Ramesh at Vikalangula Colony in Madhurawada area along with his wife and daughter.

In February 2021, when his wife became pregnant again, Rishi dropped her at her parents’ house and returned to his work place after a couple of days. In May 2021, he went absconding from work at the welding shop.

Ramesh told the police he had not bothered about enquiring about Rishi for a few months, as he thought the latter had gone to his in-laws’ place to take care of his pregnant wife. “However, he made a few calls to Rishi asking for house rent and the latter would tell him that he would come back and pay the same,” he said.

In the meantime, Ramesh also had fallen sick for a few months and did not pay much attention on collecting rent from Rishi for a long time. “Recently, Ramesh started making enquiries about Rishi, but could not contact him. After making repeated attempts, Ramesh decided to give the house on rent to some other tenants,” the police said.

On Sunday evening, Ramesh broke open the lock and started removing all the belongings of Rishi, including furniture and other household items. He noticed a tightly-sealed drum at a corner and brought it out.

“When Ramesh opened it, he found, to his horror, skeletal remains of chopped body parts of a woman. He immediately alerted the nearby P M Palem police station,” the police official quoted above said.

Based on the complaint given by Ramesh, the police registered a case of suspicious death. On Monday, a team of police officials went to Srikakulam to track Rishi and managed to locate him late in the evening.

“On interrogation, Rishi admitted that he got acquainted with the woman, an alleged sex worker, while returning to his home in a shared autorickshaw. He brought her to his home, as his wife was away in her parents’ place. He had a quarrel with her over payment and in a fit of rage, he had killed her by tightening her neck with her scarf,” the police officer said.

Later, Rishi chopped the body into pieces, stuffed them in the plastic bags and packed them in a plastic drum. “Later, he quietly left the city after telling the house owner that he was going to his wife’s place but did not return after that,” the officer added.

The police have now registered a case of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and are investigating.