The murder is believe to have taken place on the staircase of the building following a physical altercation between the three. (Representational) The Mumbai Police, investigating the murder of a 19-year-old woman at a New Year party in Khar early Friday, has began the process of recording the statements of those present at the party to establish the chain of events that led to the murder.
So far, two of the woman’s friends – a 19-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man — who had come with her to the party, which was held at the terrace of a building, have been arrested on charges of murder. The murder is believe to have taken place on the staircase of the building following a physical altercation between the three.
The police said that in the absence of any CCTV camera footage of the staircase of the 10-storey building and no eye witnesses, a friend that the deceased spoke with some time before she was killed, will be vital. “It appears that the deceased spoke to a friend over the phone after she had a fight with the two accused. She was upset and her friend consoled her. The statement of the friend will be vital evidence to establish that the accused and the victim had a fight and therefore, had a motive to harm her,” said the police.
The police are also trying to gather evidence on what transpired between the time the three were seen leaving the party and when the body was found on the ground floor staircase of the building some time later. “Usually, everybody takes the lift. In this case, why they took the stairs is another question before us,” said the officer.
The police have recovered CCTV footage of the one of the accused leaving the building in an injured condition after the incident in the wee hours of January 1. The postmortem report has revealed that the victim’s skull was fractured and she had also sustained injuries on her forehead, on the back of her head, hip and thighs. The police have said that the two accused also sustained injuries on their head and back and had visited Sion and Hinduja hospitals after the incident without informing anyone.
Officers have also recorded the statements of other friends present at the party to corroborate the movements of the accused and the deceased. “Some of these accounts cover different aspects of what happened that night. One of those present said that the three had a fight at a friend’s place in the same building after the deceased was feeling unwell and was taken there. We are trying to ascertain the exact sequence of events,” the officer said.