30 body parts of woman stored in fridge

In a cold-blooded murder that would remind one about the brutal killing of Shraddha Walker by her live-in partner Aftab Poonawalla, the dismembered body a 29-year-old woman was found in a refrigerator in a flat at Vyalikaval in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Over 30 body parts were stashed in a 165-litre refrigerator and they were first found by the landlord of the victim, who had entered the area to know the source of the stench that was pervading the neighbourhood for over two days.

On being alerted, police reached the flat and identified the body to be of Mahalakshmi, wife of Hemant Das. She used to live alone in the flat.

Initially, Mahalakshmi’s neighbours thought that the stench was emanating from rotten food in the flat and informed Jayaram, the owner of the flat who also lives in the same building.

Despite the foul stench, Jayaram entered the flat which was locked from outside and opened the fridge only to find dry blood and the dismembered body parts.

Mahalakshmi’s husband Hemant Das lives separately with their daughter. The police are interrogating him.

It was learnt that the victim moved to the flat just five months ago after discord with Hemant Das.

Police said that the victim was murdered 4-5 days ago. Her mobile was switched off on September 12.

Mahalakshmi is a native of another state but she settled in Karnataka, the police said.

The incident reminded one of Shraddha Walker’s murder in 2022. Walker’s body was chopped into 35 pieces using a saw and the body parts were stored in a fridge for three weeks.