INDORE: For over six months, a murdered woman’s body lay rotting in a refrigerator in a rented room in MP’s Dewas while another family lived next door, unaware of the horror just a few feet away.
The grisly secret was uncovered on Friday and police arrested a suspect, Sanjay Patidar, within hours. The victim was identified as his live-in partner, Pinky alias Pratibha Prajapati.
The two-storey house in Vrindavan Dham is owned by businessman Dhirendra Shrivastava, who has been in Dubai for the past six months. The ground floor has a room, kitchen and toilet to the right and two bedrooms and a hall on the left, both sides separated by a staircase leading to the upper floor that is retained by Shrivastava.
In July 2024, Balveer Rajput, a resident of Ingoria in Ujjain, took the ground floor on rent, ASP Jaiveer Bhadoria said. He, however, could not use two of the rooms that were locked up by the previous tenant, Patidar.
“Patidar vacated in June 2024 but left behind some belongings, including the refrigerator, in two rooms. He kept assuring the landlord that he was going to return or take away his belongings but kept delaying it,” SP Puneet Gehlot told TOI.
Accused returned every 15 days to check on decomposing body
Balveer requested the landlord to be allowed to use the other rooms for his family, which includes his wife and two children, aged 10 and 11. Shrivastava agreed.
On Thursday, Balveer broke the lock and found the refrigerator running. Irritated by the previous tenant’s “carelessness” and believing that he had finally found the reason for his inordinately high electricity bills, he switched it off and thought he would clear out the rest of the stuff in the morning.
By Friday morning, an unbearable stench filled the locality. Neighbours complained. Some called the police.
The cops opened the refrigerator and a decomposed body fell out. It was wrapped in a bedsheet. Police began questioning neighbours, leading to identification of their prime suspect, Sanjay Patidar.
Neighbours confirmed that a woman lived with him but had not been seen since March 2024. Patidar had told them that she had gone to her parental home.
Police went looking for Patidar and arrested him. During interrogation, he identified the victim as Pratibha, his live-in partner for five years, three of which were in Ujjain.
Patidar has told police that he is married and has two children but Pratibha had been pressuring him for marriage, which left him angry and frustrated. The day he killed her, he first sat her down and tried to break up with her, but she was adamant on marriage, say police.
He then strangled her with the help of his friend, Vinod Dave, stuffed her body into the fridge, cranked it up to the coldest setting, locked the room and fled, say police.
Police have learnt that Vinod is imprisoned in Rajasthan’s Tonk district for a separate crime. They are coordinating with Rajasthan police to question him.
Forensic experts have collected evidence from the crime scene, and a panel of doctors conducted the post-mortem examination.
Patidar said he used to return to the house every 15 days to check the decomposing body, say police. He had paid two months’ rent and told the landlord that Pratibha’s father had suffered a heart attack and they would again move into the house once she returned. Locals have told police that Pratibha was very social and ran a bangles business from the house.
