The death toll in the Malad reservoir wall collapse went up to 28 after the body of 24-year-old Sonali Sakpal was found in Versova. Her father identified the body at Cooper Hospital on Monday following which her last rites were performed even as her mother and two siblings remain admitted in hospital.
“The body was in a decomposed condition. We had no choice but to go ahead with the last rites,” said Sakpal’s uncle Bala Sakharkar, adding the police told them that the body had passed through the nullah near their house, which connects all the way to Malad creek.
“They suspect that her body could have then floated towards Versova,” he said. Sakpal’s father Sunil, who works with the BMC, identified the body with the help of a tattoo on the hand, earrings, and her clothes.
Sakpal had been missing since the wall came crashing on her shanty in Jai Bhavani settlement in Kurar village. Her parents Sunil and Alka, and siblings Sachin and Rupali, were also in the house, but they survived with multiple injuries. “Her mother and siblings are still admitted in Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Municipal General Hospital. We told them everything after carrying out the last rites,” said Mr. Sakharkar.
