Musician’s murder: Teen sent to police custody

The 19-year-old woman accused of murdering her “adoptive father” Bennett Rebello, 58, was remanded in police custody till Tuesday.

The 19-year-old woman accused of murdering her “adoptive father” Bennett Rebello, 58, was remanded in police custody till Tuesday.

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Police have a strong suspicion that though prima facie the murder seems to be an act of rage by the woman as Rebello objected to her affair with a minor boy and was allegedly sexually assaulting her, the involvement of other persons cannot be ruled out in the case.

“As per the preliminary inquiry duo had no criminal backgrounds, so it could be possible that someone would have helped them, ”said an officer.

Bennett Rebello was a guitarist who lived in Vakola. His neighbours said that they had not seen Rebello’s family since almost a decade and he was staying alone. Investigations revealed that the woman came in contact with Rebello through an acquaintance who knew him. As she was not having a place to stay, Rebello took her in and she started staying at his house from February 2018. While the woman claimed that she was “adopted” by Rebello, the police did not come across any document that corroborated her claim during their house search. Police, however, added that she referred to Rebello as “papa” while being interrogated.

On Saturday, the crime branch arrested the woman and her 16-year-old boyfriend in connection with the murder. On December 2, police found a white and silver stroller suitcase with Rebello’s left arm till the shoulder, a right leg, two pants, shirts and a sweater floating in the sea behind the Mahim Dargah.

Police said the duo confessed that they had killed Rebello on November 26 and chopped the body the next day as it had started decomposing. They packed the parts in three different bags and dumped the bags one by one on three separate days between November 27 and November 29.

“We have been taking help of other agencies to trace the other body parts or bags containing them in the Mithi river and surrounding coastal areas,” said DCP Shahaji Umap.