- In January 2019, the dismembered remains of a woman began surfacing inside plastic bags across the city
- The breakthrough came from two tattoos on the hand the killer had left behind
- The man accused of cutting her body into pieces and scattering them across Chennai was filmmaker Balakrishnan
Chennai police had a body, but no face to put to it.
In January 2019, the dismembered remains of a woman began surfacing inside plastic bags across the city. A severed hand and legs were found near the Pallikaranai dumpyard. Bones and internal organs were recovered elsewhere. The head and left hand were missing.
There was no name, no immediate match among missing-person complaints and almost nothing to tell investigators who the victim was. Even after police sifted through nearly 11,700 tonnes of garbage, her identity remained a mystery.
The breakthrough came from two tattoos on the hand the killer had left behind: Shiva and Parvati etched into the skin, and a dragon.
Those two marks led investigators to 37-year-old aspiring Tamil actress Sandhya. They also led police to the man accused of killing her, cutting her body into pieces and scattering them across Chennai: her husband, filmmaker Balakrishnan.
Human Fingers Protruding From A Plastic Bag
The case began after a passerby noticed what appeared to be human fingers protruding from a discarded plastic sack near Chennai's Pallikaranai dumpyard.
When the bag was opened, a severed hand and legs were found inside.
More plastic bags containing bones, intestines and other human remains were subsequently recovered from different parts of the city, including areas near the Adyar River.
Forensic experts determined that the remains belonged to the same woman, believed to be between 30 and 40 years old. The post-mortem examination also indicated that her body had been dismembered with a sharp weapon after she was killed.
But the two body parts that could have made identification easier were missing: her head and left hand.
There was no face that could be circulated and no fingerprint match that immediately established who she was.
The Search Through 11,700 Tonnes Of Garbage
A special investigation team led by Deputy Commissioner Muthuswamy was formed to investigate the murder.
Police suspected that more body parts could be buried inside the sprawling Pallikaranai dumpyard. What followed was an extraordinary search operation in which investigators sifted through nearly 11,700 tonnes of garbage.
The search led to the recovery of the woman's torso and several additional body parts. But her head and left hand could not be found.
Forensic experts at Chennai's Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital examined the remains and confirmed that they all belonged to the same woman.
Police then checked recently filed missing-person complaints involving women of a similar age and physical build. None matched.
Photographs of the recovered remains were circulated to police stations across Tamil Nadu. Newspapers and television channels carried appeals asking the public to help identify the victim.
Days passed without a breakthrough.
The Two Tattoos That Cracked The Case
Investigators then focused on the few identifying marks still visible on the body.
The recovered right hand carried two distinctive tattoos. One depicted Shiva and Parvati. The other was of a dragon. A bangle was also found on the limb.
Those details would eventually provide the first real lead in the case.
Around the same time, a woman approached a police station in Thoothukudi to report that her daughter had been missing for nearly three weeks.
Her daughter was Sandhya, a 37-year-old aspiring actress who lived in Chennai with her husband and two children.
The woman told police that she had repeatedly asked her son-in-law, Balakrishnan, about Sandhya's whereabouts. According to her, he claimed Sandhya had left for Thoothukudi on January 19 but had become unreachable.
Sandhya, however, had never reached her family home.
Her age and physical build appeared to match those of the unidentified victim found in Chennai.
A Mother Recognises Her Daughter
Police asked Sandhya's family to examine the identifying marks found on the recovered remains.
Her mother recognised the Shiva-Parvati tattoo. She also identified a distinctive mole and pieces of jewellery still found on the severed limbs.
DNA tests later confirmed the identification.
The woman whose body had been scattered across Chennai finally had a name.
With Sandhya identified, the case shifted from finding out who the victim was to determining what had happened to her.
Investigators immediately began examining the account given by her husband.
The Husband's Story Begins To Unravel
Balakrishnan initially maintained that Sandhya had left their Chennai home on January 19 and had not returned.
But police found inconsistencies in his statements.
He had allegedly told Sandhya's family that she had travelled to Thoothukudi despite knowing that she had never reached there.
As investigators questioned him further, his version of events reportedly began to change.
Police said Balakrishnan eventually confessed to killing his wife.
According to investigators, the couple had argued on the night of January 19, 2019. Balakrishnan allegedly suspected Sandhya of having an extramarital relationship, which had led to frequent disputes between them.
During the confrontation, police alleged, he attacked her with an axe and killed her inside their home.
Murdered At Home, Scattered Across Chennai
Investigators alleged that Balakrishnan dismembered Sandhya's body the following day.
He reportedly packed the remains inside plastic sacks and disposed of them in garbage bins and isolated locations across Chennai. Some were allegedly dumped near Pallikaranai, while others were thrown close to the Adyar River.
Police later recovered another body part based on information allegedly provided by Balakrishnan.
"We are on the lookout for the missing head with information the accused has given us," police officer Alvin told NDTV at the time.
According to the police, Balakrishnan claimed he had killed Sandhya because he doubted her loyalty. The allegation that she was having an affair was never independently established.
Bloodstains, Plastic Sacks And CCTV Footage
After the alleged confession, investigators searched the couple's residence.
Reports said police found plastic sacks similar to those used to dispose of Sandhya's body. They also recovered the sharp weapon allegedly used to dismember her.
Forensic teams reportedly detected bloodstains on the floor of the house.
Investigators also examined CCTV footage from the surrounding area. The footage allegedly showed Balakrishnan riding a motorcycle late at night with sacks believed to contain Sandhya's remains.
The evidence helped police reconstruct how the body had allegedly been carried out of the house and disposed of across the city.
A Marriage Troubled By Violence And Money
Sandhya and Balakrishnan were both originally from Thoothukudi. They had been married since the early 2000s and had two children.
Police said their marriage had been troubled for years.
In 2018, Sandhya reportedly approached the police with allegations of domestic violence. The couple later reconciled following counselling.
Balakrishnan had also been facing financial difficulties after producing the Tamil film Kadhal Ilavasam, which reportedly performed poorly at the box office.
Investigators alleged that he had been demanding a substantial amount of money from Sandhya's family to finance another film.
Sandhya, meanwhile, had been trying to rebuild her acting career in Chennai. During the period she spent away from home, she reportedly developed friendships within the film industry.
Balakrishnan allegedly became increasingly suspicious of her interactions and believed she was having an affair. No independent evidence supporting that allegation emerged.
Reports also suggested that Sandhya had faced an alleged casting-couch incident while trying to secure acting work.
She later returned to live with Balakrishnan after he reportedly promised to help her find opportunities in the film industry. But when those opportunities failed to materialise, tensions between the couple resurfaced.
On the night she was killed, Sandhya had allegedly decided to leave the house following another argument.
Police said the confrontation then turned fatal.
The Head And Left Hand Were Never Found
Investigators managed to identify Sandhya, reconstruct the alleged crime and recover most of her remains.
But two pieces were never found.
Despite searches through thousands of tonnes of garbage and locations identified during the investigation, police could not recover Sandhya's head or left hand.
Their absence left one final, disturbing gap in a case built from body parts scattered across an entire city.
The person who killed Sandhya had allegedly removed the most obvious means of identifying her. There was no face, and one of her hands was gone.
But the other hand carried two marks that had survived everything: Shiva and Parvati, and a dragon.
A mother recognised them. And a murder meant to leave behind an anonymous victim finally had a name.