Mumbai man kills live-in partner, chops body into 20 pieces with tree cutter, boils parts in cooker

A Mumbai-based 56-year-old man, accused of chopping his live-in partner into pieces and brutally murdering her, was arrested by the Maharashtra police on Wednesday, June 7.

In a case similar to the heinous Shraddha Walkar murder case, the Police have said that the accused boiled pieces of her body in a pressure cooker and later filled them into plastic bags to dispose of them.

The arrested accused has been identified as Manoj Sane. He had been staying with the victim in a rental flat for more than three years.

According to the police, the neighbours alerted the local police station about a persistent foul smell emanating from Sahani's flat. However, Sane did not let them enter his house and eventually, they suspected some foul play and informed the police.

"After receiving complaints by Sane's neighbours, police went to investigate the foul smell and found pieces of a human body in the kitchen. "We also found a tree cutter in the kitchen. We have sent the dead body pieces and suspected murder weapons for forensic analysis. We have arrested the accused, Sane," Jayant Bajbale, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 1) of Mira-Bhaynder Police told National Herald.

"The alleged accused Manoj Sane runs a small shop in the suburb of Borivali. He was in a live-in relationship with the victim Saraswati Vaidya and they stayed in a rented flat in Geeta Akash Deep Building at Mira Road. The first-hand information reveals that the couple had a fight over some matter following which the woman was murdered. Sane had cut her body into several pieces with a cutter. However, he denied the charges and alleged that the victim committed suicide," added Bajbale.

According to the neighbours, it is believed that Vaidya was a matric pass and had no relatives. She was living in an orphanage prior to meeting Sane.  

One of the neighbours, Vivek Shrivastav told National Herald: "It looks like the murder took place on or before June 4. After the murder, Sane took her body to the bathroom and cut it into pieces. There were 20 pieces and Saraswati’s head was found by the police in the kitchen. He used to put those pieces in the pressure cooker and boil them. The pieces were found in a pressure cooker and other three big-sized utensils. There were big black coloured polythene bags found inside his house, it looks like he had planned to dispose of it later."

When police arrived to inspect the house after the neighbours' complaint, Sane wasn’t at home. He was arrested by the police when he reached home at night, informed the neighbour.

"The family never interacted with anyone in the building. The couple always kept to themselves and chose to remain isolated from society," claimed Vivek.

The decomposing body parts found in his house led to suspicion that the murder could have occurred three-four days ago. The police are investigating to find out the motive behind the murder. The police who have taken the suspect into custody are now interrogating him.

This disturbing incident seems to be only the latest in a series of gruesome murders by partners, and recalls also some aspects of the Anjali Singh case less than a week ago, where the victim's body was found in pieces in a trunk.