text: BENGALURU: In one of the most-chilling murders, Bengaluru has witnessed in the recent past, the body of a 29-year-old woman was found chopped into over 40 pieces and stuffed inside the refrigerator of her house house in the Vyalikaval police limits on Saturday afternoon.
  The single-bedroom house is located on the first floor of a three-storeyed building on 6th Cross, Pipe Line Road near Veeranna Bhavan in Vyalikaval.
  The victim, Mahalakshmi, hails from Nepal and had married Hemanth Das five years ago, but had estranged from him early this year.
  Her four-year-old daughter was staying with Das. Every fortnight, Das, who works at a mobile accessory shop in Nelamangala, would come to her house with his daughter to allow Mahalakshmi to spend some time with the child. Das stays with his parents in the city.
  On Saturday afternoon, Mahalakshmi’s sister, who stays in the same building, and mother came to her house as she was not answering her mobile phone.
  Using a spare key, they opened the locked house only to find the floor sticky and the entire house filled with a foul smell.
  As blood and other body fluids were seen flowing out of the fridge -- which is a single-door, 165-litre model -- the two opened it only to see Mahalakshmi’s body parts stuffed inside.
  Mahalakshmi’s mother screamed in horror and ran out of the house, while the police were alerted immediately.
  The police said, “Mahalakshmi’s phone had been switched off since September 2. As she was not reachable, her mother and sister were worried and came to the house.”
  Blood, maggots: a gory crime scene
  “When we opened the door, we could see maggots crawling on the floor and the entire floor sticky with the victim’s blood that had dripped from the refrigerator’s door. Legs were cut and placed on top of the refrigerator, while remaining body parts were placed on the middle shelves. The head was placed at the bottom of the refrigerator.”
  Unable to bear the stench, the police had to wear double masks to investigate the crime scene. One of the sub-inspectors was seen throwing up after going through the house.
  As news of the murder spread, a large number of people gathered near the house, and the police had a tough time controlling them. Forensic Science Laboratory and Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) teams were summoned to the spot for scientific collection of evidence.
  All the residents of the building were asked to leave and the police had a tough time doing their job as the floor had blood and the body parts were mixed and stuffed.
  The police summoned the staff from the Bowring Hospital mortuary who assisted the Forensic Medicine Department doctors in arranging different parts of the body. Police teams collected fingerprints and other evidence from the crime scene.
  “Mahalakshmi was earlier staying with her brother. Though she and her family hail from Nepal, they have settled down in Nelamangala. Mahalakshmi, who worked at a popular mall, was staying in the Vyalikaval house for the last five months. She used to go to work around 9.30 am and return home around 10.30 pm. An unidentified man was seen sometimes picking up and dropping her near the house. He is suspected to be behind the murder. She was not friendly with any of her neighbours, except one family that stays opposite her house. She had a dog, and sometimes she asked them to take care of it,” a police officer said.
  The police officers initially suspected that the murder might have been committed four to five days ago. But the neighbours said the house was locked for over a fortnight. The police are questioning the neighbours and her colleagues.
  “Three police teams, headed by inspectors, have been formed to crack the case. We are checking her call detail records (CDR) and footage from CCTVs to find more clues. We suspect that the accused has used a sharp weapon to cut the body into pieces,” said an officer.