Bengaluru fridge horror: Mystery deepens after husband's claim

Bengaluru: The estranged husband of a 29-year-old woman whose dismembered body was found in the fridge of her Bengaluru home on Saturday suspects the involvement of a barber from Uttarakhand known to her.

The maggot-infested body of the woman, Mahalakshmi, was discovered by her mother and elder sister in her Vyalikaval home on Saturday, sending shockwaves through the city. Bengaluru Police have so far recovered 28 body parts.

Her estranged husband Hemant Das suggested that a man known to her was behind the killing.

“I got to know that she was in an affair with a man from Uttarakhand who was in Bengaluru and worked at a barber shop. I came to know this some time in April-May last year. It has been 9-10 months since I stopped tracking where she was and what she was doing. I don’t know where he is or what he is doing now,” Das told reporters on Sunday. 

Das, who runs a mobile accessories shop in Nelamangala and lives with their four-year-old daughter, also claimed that Mahalakshmi had filed a police complaint against the man for blackmail some time ago.

“She used to come to my shop once a month to see our daughter. After she moved out, the baby was with her for four months. Then I started looking after the child. Mahalakshmi had filed a complaint against me at the Nelamangala police station nearly nine months ago before she moved out,” he said.

Without commenting on the husband’s allegations, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Shekhar H Tekkannavar said investigations were still underway.

“As of now, [there are] no such leads. We are investigating from all angles and if any breakthrough we will update. Kindly don’t believe in false news.”

Police are awaiting post-mortem and forensic examination reports to determine when the murder was committed. “Due to the nature of the crime, our investigators will also need time. But we are confident of cracking the case as soon as possible,” a senior officer told DH.

Mahalakshmi and Das married five years ago and have a four-year-old girl. In October 2023, Mahalakshmi left husband and started living alone in Vyalikaval. The child lives with the father.