Chargesheet filed in theatre artiste’s murder

Vadodara: JP Road police filed the chargesheet in the murder case of budding theatre artiste Prachi Maurya.
Maurya, 25, was strangulated to death by her former boyfriend Wasim Malek near Old Padra Road on April 25.
After investigating in the case for around 86 days, police submitted 3,000 pages of case papers including 1,500-page chargesheet in a local court. Investigators said that the chargesheet includes statements of 55 witnesses and material witnesses submitted by forensic experts, medical officers among others.
Medical evidences have also been submitted besides the footages of CCTV cameras of five different locations of the city. Records of the calls and messages that were exchanged between Maurya and Malek and ‘punchnama’ of the reconstruction of the crime are also the part of the chargesheet.
After registering the case, the judicial magistrate court has issued notice to Malek for giving him an opportunity to present his reply to allegations made against him.
Maurya had returned to city after a group performance in Khambhat around midnight and was dropped by her friend Ankit Sharma near her house. Malek who had followed them all the while confronted her about Sharma and a bitter altercation took place between the duo. Maurya asked Sharma asked to leave from there.
The altercation turned violent and Malek grabbed Maurya by her throat and strangulated her. When she fell unconscious, he dragged her body under a tree by the roadside and covered it with her dupatta. He had then left from there on his bike but returned midway to take away Maurya’s two mobile phones. On hearing her groaning in pain, he realized that she was alive and used her dupatta to strangulate her again.