Woman’s body sealed with cement

Vadodara: This murder mystery in Dahod unravelled much like the plot of a suspense thriller movie.
After the police confirmed that a missing three-year-old girl was murdered by a couple, investigations have now revealed that the girl’s mother was also killed and her body was disposed in a water tank. The alleged killers poured in 14 bags of cement into the tank so that the body is not found and no stench emanates.

The murder mystery began with anganwadi worker Nanda Sisodiya (48) and her adopted three-year-old daughter Shiyona alias Angel (3) going missing since November 17. A missing persons’ report was registered regarding the disappearance initially, but investigations pointed fingers at Manju Bhabhor and husband Dilip.

A murder case was registered against the couple after the Shiyona’s body was fished out from Hadaf river near Limkheda on November 23. The mother-daughter duo had gone to meet Manju and then went missing. Manju was also an anganwadi’ worker and a good friend of Nanda.

CCTV camera footages, location of the Nanda’s phone and statement of eyewitnesses clearly showed that Nanda and Shiyona had gone to the house of Bhabhor couple. Based on this, a murder offence was registered and the couple was picked up for interrogation.

Dahod town police inspector K G Patel said that the couple eventually broke down during interrogation and revealed that they had strangled Nanda to death on November 17. The couple panicked that Shiyona would reveal the happenings to someone and decided to kill her by throwing her into the river. “This may have been done to mislead us too,” said Patel.

The couple then threw Nanda’s body in the water tank behind their house in Shriram Colony on the Dahod-Godhra Road. On November 18, the couple along with the help of one Rohit Sangada procured 14 bags of cement. The cement was emptied into the tank. The cement hardened over the days and ensured that no smell emanated from the tank.

After the couple admitted to the crime, police had to use mechanized equipment used to break slabs and stones to break the thick layer of cement. Nanda’s body was found late on Tuesday afternoon and sent to Vadodara for an autopsy. The couple was formally arrested on Wednesday.