Mumbai butcher married victim, but claims she was like daughter

Contrary to a claim by him to police earlier that since he was a HIV positive person, he had no physical relations with the victim woman and that he treated her like a "daughter", the investigators probing the macabre murder have established that the Mira Road "butcher" Manoj Sane had indeed married Saraswati Vaidya at a temple several years ago, but they hid their marriage because of their age difference.

A day after the heinous murder of 36-year-old Saraswati allegedly at the hands of 56-year-old Sane — who cut, chopped, minced, boiled and roasted her body parts — the victim woman's three elder sisters from Ahmednagar in western Maharashtra who were in regular touch with her joined the investigations on Friday. In their statements recorded by the police, the three sisters said Sane and Saraswati had entered into a wedlock at a ceremony held at a temple several years ago but had hidden their marriage from society because of their age difference.

Talking to media persons, Deputy Commissioner of Police Jayant Bajbale — who is heading the investigations — said, "The three elder sisters of the victim woman have identified her body. The process of handing over the slain woman's body is underway. We are getting the DNA samples of three sisters to match with that of Saraswati who is the youngest sister in their family."

Though the victim woman's family members are cooperating with the police in the investigations, Sane's two brothers — who are living in Mumbai — have refused to talk to the investigators by saying they had severed their relations with the accused several years ago and had absolutely no knowledge about his recent activities.

The exact motive behind the gory murder has not been established yet. Informed police sources said the accused was giving evasive replies and was even trying to mislead them by making contradictory claims as to the circumstances leading to the murder.

During the course of his interrogation, Sane initially claimed that he had killed Saraswati, but she had committed suicide on June 3 (Saturday). He told the police that after her "suicide", he feared that he would be treated as a prime suspect in the circumstances leading to her death, he tried to dispose of her body parts. He also claimed that he wanted to commit suicide after the whole thing was over.

In another misleading claim, Sane told the investigators that as he had been diagnosed with HIV-positive nearly 15 years ago, he had no physical relations with her, that he treated her like a "daughter" than a "live-in" partner. However, the statements by the three elder sisters of Saraswati nailed Sane's lie as they told the police that their youngest sister had entered into a wedlock with the accused at a temple marriage ceremony several years ago.

On their part, the investigators have formed several teams to check on Sane's antecedents, his friends, acquaintances and business associates. "We expect to pool together all details about the accused and also the motive behind the murder in the next few days," a senior police officer said. Saraswati's cold-blooded murder has sent shock waves through the country. The ghastly murder came to light on Wednesday night after the Naya Nagar police — acting on a complaint by one of Sane's neighbours — broke open the rented 7th floor flat (No. 704) of the accused in Akashganga building at Mira Road's Geeta Nagar locality on Thursday night.

To their utter shock, the investigators — upon their entering Sane's flat — first found a big plastic bag on his bed with a see-saw machine lying next to it. Inside the kitchen, the police found clumps of cut hair of a woman on the ground.. Shockingly enough, they found a cooker with human flesh in it. The investigators also found several vessels containing cooked human flesh.

In the kitchen wash basin and the area down under it, the police found half burnt bones and half burnt human flesh in a bucket and in the tubs. The investigators suspect that Sane might have disposed of some missing parts of Saraswati's body by flushing down the toilet drain or might have fed them to the stray dogs or thrown them in the nearby mangroves. Some local residents have told the police that they had seen Sane feeding the stray dogs in the neighbourhood.

The police arrested Sane later on Thursday night. Sane was on Thursday produced before a Thane court which remanded him in police custody till June 16.