A second suitcase containing some more partial remains of Santacruz resident Bennett Rebello was found in the Mithi river on Tuesday.
Rebello, a musician, was allegedly murdered by his adoptive daughter Aradhya Patil (19) and her 16-year-old boyfriend on November 26, after which they hacked his body into pieces, stuffed them in suitcases, and threw them in the Mithi river. One of the them, containing an arm and leg, washed ashore behind Mahim Dargah on December 2, leading to the arrest of the accused by Unit V of the Mumbai Crime Branch.
Officials said the second suitcase was found with the help of local fishermen from Mahim, who have been trawling the river on their boats since the case was cracked. It was found in the stretch of the river that runs near American School of Bombay at Bandra Kurla Complex.
“The suitcase contained another arm and leg. We have sent them for post-mortem and DNA analysis so that they can be compared with the other body parts found. The accused had wrapped both the parts in plastic and stuffed some of Rebello’s clothes along with them to absorb the blood,” a Crime Branch officer said.
The officer said finding all parts of Rebello’s body might be challenging, in light of some fresh claims made by the accused in their interrogation.
“They were initially saying that they stuffed the body parts in two to three suitcases and discarded them. However, they are now saying that they first took the torso in one suitcase and emptied it in the river, after which they used the same suitcase, along with the second one, for the rest of the body parts. The head was stuffed in a knapsack and thrown at another spot in the Mithi river,” the officer said.
Ms. Patil, in her interrogation, has said her boyfriend incited her to kill Rebello, saying they could take over his house and live together. The police have also found an ‘apology’ written in her notebook, in which she expresses regret over killing the man who gave her shelter.
