Foul Smell Leads to Horror: Bengaluru Woman’s Body Cut Into 30 Pieces, Found in Fridge

Bengaluru: In a deeply disturbing incident, a young woman living alone in Bengaluru was found murdered, her body gruesomely dismembered into 30 pieces and stored in her refrigerator. The horrifying discovery was made by her family after a foul smell had been emanating from her home for days, police revealed on Saturday.

The victim, identified as 26-year-old Mahalaxmi, hailed either from West Bengal or Chhattisgarh and resided in Veeranna Bhavana near Pipeline Road, under the jurisdiction of Vyalikaval police station. She had moved into her current residence approximately five to six months ago.

The macabre crime came to light when concerned neighbors, who had noticed the smell for two days, informed her relatives. Upon arriving at the residence on Saturday, Mahalaxmi’s mother and sister were confronted with the unimaginable sight of her dismembered remains stuffed into a 165-litre fridge. Police officials who arrived at the scene were met with an equally grim discovery, as the body parts were already infested with maggots despite the refrigerator still being functional.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the murder likely took place at the start of the month, with the killer using a sharp-edged weapon, possibly a knife or sword, to dismember the body. Mahalaxmi, who was employed at a popular shopping mall, maintained a routine of leaving for work in the mornings and returning late in the evening. Neighbors described her as reclusive, rarely interacting with others in the area. Her brother had reportedly stayed with her in recent days.

Further inquiries revealed that Mahalaxmi had been married and was a mother to a young son, though she lived separately from her husband, identified as Rana. Authorities have located Rana and are questioning him as part of the investigation.

N. Satish Kumar, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), informed the media that it appeared to be the work of a single individual who not only murdered Mahalaxmi but also dismembered her body and stored the pieces in the refrigerator. The police have retrieved the majority of the body parts from the fridge, with little indication that any were removed for disposal. The remains have been sent for forensic examination.

The investigation into this chilling crime is ongoing, and more information is expected to unfold as the probe progresses.

This case draws unsettling parallels to a similar crime in New Delhi’s Chhattarpur area in 2022, where Shraddha Walkar, 27, was allegedly killed and dismembered by her live-in partner, Aaftab Amin Poonawala.