Who was Saraswati Vaidya? Manoj Sahani’s Live-in Partner, Mira Road’s Murder Case
Mira Road’s Murder Case:- Saraswati Vaidya was a 36-year-old woman who was brutally killed and dismembered by her live-in partner, Manoj Sahani, a 56-year-old man, in their rented apartment in Mira Road, Mumbai. The gruesome murder came to light on June 8, 2023, when the residents of the building complained of a foul smell emanating from the flat where the couple lived for three years.
The Victim Saraswati Vaidya’s Background
According to the police, Saraswati Vaidya was an orphan who grew up in a Borivali orphanage. She had no relatives or friends and was dependent on Manoj Sahani for her livelihood. She worked as a domestic help in some houses in the locality. She met Sahani through a common acquaintance and started living with him in 2020.
The Accused Manoj Sahani’s Profile
Manoj Sahani was a native of Bihar who came to Mumbai in search of work. He worked as a driver for a private company and earned around ₹15,000 per month. He was married and had two children who lived with his wife in Bihar. He rarely visited his family and sent them money occasionally. He had a criminal record of theft and assault and was out on bail.
The Motive and the Method
The police suspect that Sahani killed Vaidya after a heated argument over some issue. He then used a tree cutter to chop her body into pieces and stuffed them in buckets and utensils. He tried to clean the blood stains from the floor and walls with bleach and detergent. He also sprayed perfume and incense sticks to mask the odor. He planned to dispose of the body parts in garbage bins or nearby water bodies.
However, his plan was foiled when the neighbors alerted the police about the stench from his flat. The police broke open the door and found the decomposed body parts in the kitchen and bathroom. They also recovered the cutter and other evidence from the scene. Sahani was arrested as he tried to escape from the building.
The Legal Action
Sahani has been booked under sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. He has been remanded to police custody till June 16 by a Thane court. The police are interrogating him to ascertain the exact motive and timeline of the murder. They are also conducting a DNA test to confirm the identity of the victim.
The murder case has shocked the residents of Mira Road and has drawn comparisons with another similar case that took place in Mumbai in April 2021, where a man named Aaftab Ansari killed his girlfriend Shraddha Walkar and chopped her body into pieces.
