A 34-year-old graphic designer and his wife were arrested on Tuesday from their Mumbai residence after the man allegedly killed a woman and her wife who helped dispose of the body by stuffing it in a suitcase in Gujarat. The incident came to light during an investigation into a missing person’s complaint filed by the victim’s sister. During questioning, Manohar Shukla said that he killed Naina Mahat, a hairstylist who also took up assignments in movies, after she refused to withdraw two complaints for rape and assault filed against him in 2019.
According to a report published in Times of India, Mahat and Manohar were neighbours in Vasai in 2013 and got into a relationship a year later. In 2018, Manohar got married to Poornima but continued the relationship with Mahat.
Manohar And Mahat Were In Relationship
In early 2019, when Poornima learnt about the relationship between her husband and Mahat, she confronted.
Nearly a month later, the 28-year-old hairstylist — who had strained relations with her siblings over the affair with Manohar — was reported missing by her sister and a missing person’s complaint was registered on August 14.
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CCTV footage of the building where Mahat stayed alone showed her and Manohar entering the premises on August 9. Thereafter, she was not seen leaving the building, the report added.
Investigations revealed that at 10 am on August 9, the two got into a fight as Mahat accused Manohar of marrying Poornima despite being in a relationship with her.
As per the report, Manohar told the police that Mahat threatened him to commit suicide. In a fit of rage, Manohar dragged her by the hair to the bathroom where he drowned her head in a bucket of water. He then placed her on bed as seeing her still and left for work.
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Manohar Confesses Of Murder
The CCTV footage showed Manohar returning to the building twice during the day. At around 9:45 pm he returned with his wife and daughter and were seen leaving with a trolley bag. They were seen leaving on a scooter with a trolley bag placed between them and the daughter sitting on Poornima’s lap. As per the report, the couple took their two-year-old daughter to avoid suspicion.
After Manohar confessed to the murder, the Mumbai police contacted its counterparts in Gujarat’s Valsad who confirmed that a decomposed body was found near a creek last month. The body was identified on the basis of a tattoo and the police said that DNA of her sister will have to be matched for confirmation, the report added.
The police said investigation was on to ascertain if it was a planned murder and Poornima was party to it.