A woman in India whose face was disfigured by her attacker and killed earlier this month has been identified by Navi Mumbai Police. Officials announced on Tuesday that the woman’s distinct tattoos helped authorities to identify her as well as her killer.
According to Mid-day, Navi Mumbai Police identified the victim as a 70-year-old resident of Govandi, Mumbai who matched a missing woman from the same area. Among the 150 missing person cases filed in the limits of Thane, police were able to match the woman’s two tattoos with the description of a listed missing person.
Based on official reports, an auto rickshaw driver last spotted the victim near the Inorbit Mall signal in Vashi on July 29 where he saw a man approaching her. The witness identified the suspect adding that the man had even cut his hair short to change his look.
Vashi police station inspector Prakash Todarmal said the suspect was identified as 26-year-old Kanifnath Kamble who is a homeless man. He had taken the old woman near the bridge by the mall as he promised her food, but he attempted to rape her.
When the woman resisted, Kamble grabbed a piece of broken glass and slit her throat. He then smashed her head with a large rock disfiguring her face. After doing so, Kamble stuffed the woman’s body in a gunny bag and fled the scene. Her body was found in a decomposed condition leaving police with the difficult task of identifying the victim.
Kamble was arrested on Sunday with a case registered against him under Section 302 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Both charges fall under punishment for murder and causing disappearance of evidence of offense, or giving false information to screen offender.
In a similar incident in Pune, a 40-year-old man from Budhwar Peth has confessed to police on the murder of a sex worker he had an extra-marital affair with. In a probe launched by crime branch inspector Mahendra Jagtap, the victim was found to have moved to Budhwar Peth from Mumbai. She started a relationship with the accused in spite of knowing he was married. The manrented a flat for her over the past three months.
The couple apparently got into an argument on Aug. 12, which led to a violent attack on the woman. The victim was strangled to death by her lover who fled the flat locking it from inside. He then went to a friend’s home, borrowed a vehicle and returned to the woman’s flat two days later.
The man, whose identity has not been disclosed, confessed to chopping his lover’s body and packing her body parts in three different suitcases. He led the cops to the area where he had left the suitcases 10 days after he had disposed of them. The brothel operator decided to file a missing complaint after he noticed the woman’s absence.
