Saraswati Vaidya was killed on Sunday, allegedly after a fight.
Saraswati Vaidya and Manoj Sane, the man accused of killing her, chopping up her body and boiling parts of it in their home near Mumbai, were married, the police said today, as new details emerged on the gruesome murder.
Saraswati, 32, was in touch with her four sisters, three of whom were questioned today by the police.
"Saraswati and Manoj Sane were married at a temple. She later told her sisters about the wedding, but the couple didn't tell anyone else because of the age difference," said police officer Jayant Babale.
In fact, Saraswati used to tell people that Manoj Sane, 56, was her maternal uncle and he owned a cloth mill in Mumbai.
Saraswati, a school dropout from Ahmednagar, lived with her sisters for a few years before moving to Mumbai, where she met her alleged killer at a ration shop in Borivali. Manoj Sane worked in the shop.
The two became friends, and Sane got her a job. Later, he let her stay at his home in Borivali.
Saraswati, said the police, had lost her mother and her father had left long ago. The sisters grew up in different orphanages. Saraswati, the youngest, saw in Manoj Sane a reprieve from a tough life, the police said.
The two kept to themselves when they moved into the apartment on Meera Road three years ago. They visited Saraswati's ashram with gifts for the children. "They used to come in a big car. The last time she came, two years ago, she looked extremely troubled, but we don't know why," said Anu Salve, who runs the orphanage.
Sane has reportedly told the police they fought a lot.
Saraswati Vaidya was killed on Sunday, allegedly after a fight. Sane claimed to the police that she died after consuming poison and he panicked, so chopped up her body to dispose of it. The police suspect he was lying to cover up his crime.
The motive for the crime has not been established so far.
Sane allegedly bought an electric saw and cut up his partner's body into so many pieces that it was difficult to count them. He allegedly also ground and boiled some parts.
An overpowering stench, which was almost unbearable by Tuesday, drove the neighbours to alert the police that something was not right in Flat number 704. They had heard Sane spray what could be a room freshener, and wear a mask.
On Tuesday evening, the police broke open the door to a most disturbing sight, of rotting human body parts in the living room and three buckets full of human flesh in the kitchen.
Sane, on spotting policemen at his door, tried to run away but was caught by neighbours in the elevator.