Severed head of woman found in suitcase near Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway

A highly decomposed severed head of a woman was found inside a suitcase that was dumped in a dense bush near MumbaiAhmedabad Highway at Virar Phata on Thursday late evening The torso is yet to be discoveredSince the head was severely decomposed and infested with maggots making facial recognition nearly impossible the doctors have recommended for lsquosuperimposition of the skull to create a clearer image of the individualrsquos appearance aiding in the identification processThe identity of the woman is yet to be established however the cops suspect that she hailed from West Bengal ldquoThe torso has been deliberately disposed to delay the investigation The killer could be anyone like a jilted lover business rival someone having a hidden grudge etc It seems that it was a coldblooded revengedriven murderrdquo said a police officerCops gather evidence from areaA team of medical officers including Dr Anant Kulkarni and Dr Balasaheb Jadhav who conducted a postmortem of the skull on Friday told midday that the severed head will be sent to either KEM Hospital or BYL Nair Hospital for superimposition of skull ldquoThe examination revealed no head injury and remarkably the dentures were still in place indicating that the individual had not suffered any trauma to the jaw or mouth areardquo said Dr JadhavldquoThe cause of death could not be ascertained as the torso is yet to be found but she certainly did not die due to head injury as her skull was intact There was no neck only skullrdquo Dr Kulkarni said lsquoldquoLooking at the condition of the skull the possibility is very high that she was beheaded using a sharpedged object only after she was killed because the cut was uniformrdquo Dr Kulkarni saidAge analysis and DNAThe investigators have preserved the DNA to match with the torso when it is discovered and the tooth has been sent for detecting her actual age Meanwhile Dr Jadhav added ldquoLooking at the denture it seems that the deceased must be in her early 40s She might have been killed around 12 days agordquoDiscovery of bodyA group of local tribal children as well as rag pickers saw a suitcase found dumped deep inside a thick bush When they opened it they saw something wrapped in a dustbin bag ldquoThe group of children informed their parents who later alerted a police chowkie Soon a large team of officials arrived from Mandvi police station and later we got to know that the severed head of a woman was found inside the suitcaserdquo said an officer attached to Mandvi police station The cops have also recovered a few red coloured bangles and a delicate pouch of jewellery on which something is written in Bengali ldquoIt seems the woman is from West Bengalrdquo said another officer The zonal deputy inspector of police Jayant Bhajbale said ldquoOur teams are working on the case and soon we will detect it There is no CCTV camera in the area where the suitcase was found so we are using conventional methods to detect the caserdquoMandvi police have registered an FIR under Sections 101 murder and 238 destruction of evidence under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and began an investigation Crime Branch sleuths have also started a parallel investigation