Vasai Crime: Man strangles girlfriend with rope, bashes her head with plumbing tool

The Vasai police entered the hotel room where the murder took place and found the television on with high volume. Pic/Hanif Patel

A 30-year-old man brutally killed his girlfriend after first strangling her with a rope and then smothering her with a pillow, inside a hotel room in Vasai West. When the woman started to struggle for survival, the man picked up a plumbing tool from his bag and bashed her head, above the left ear leading to heavy blood loss. The reason for the murder is unknown as the accused is absconding.

The woman's partially clothed body was found on the bed in the hotel room. The police have recovered a blood stained bed sheet from the room. When the police entered the crime scene on Monday afternoon, the television volume was very high. "The killer may have increased the volume to drown out the sounds of the murder," said an officer privy to the investigation.

Victim Sayali Shahasane, Alleged accused Sagar Arun Naik

After killing her, the man had food in the same room and calmly walked out after locking the door. He also paid the room service bill and left it on his motorcycle. He parked the two-wheeler near his house in the Vasant Nagari area on Sunday evening and went underground thereafter.

Planned to get married

The victim Sayali Shahasane, 27, was a computer engineer, while the accused, Sagar Arun Naik, is a mechanical engineer. "They both studied in the same college at Kaman in Vasai and knew each other for many years. They had planned to get married…but I don't know what suddenly went wrong," the victim's father Nitin told mid-day.

Regular guests at the hotel

Prakash Hegde, the owner of the hotel ‘The Rooms of Status', where the murder took place, told mid-day that the couple had made an online booking for room 208. "They were regular guests for seven years and would come once or twice a month for an overnight stay. All the staff knew them, too," Hegde said. "On February 27, the couple checked into the same room. The man ordered some drinks and food in the room. At 5.30 pm, he asked for the bill and at 6 pm he came down to the counter, paid through an app and left," recalled Hegde.

"On Monday morning, we noticed that there was no movement from the room. We grew suspicious as the television volume was unusually high throughout the night. Also, no one was responding to the intercom calls," he said. "At 11.30am on Monday, we informed the Vasai police and a team reached our hotel. The cops opened the door with the help of a master key and then we learnt that the woman guest had been killed," said Hegde.

The Vasai police have registered an FIR under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and are conducting an investigation. Sources privy to the investigation told mid-day, "Prima facie it seems that it was planned murder as the killer had carried a rope and a hammer-like plumbing tool through which he murdered her in a ruthless manner."

"The murder weapons have been recovered from the crime scene. Also, partly eaten chocolate was found next to the bed. It has been sent for chemical analysis to ascertain if any sedative was added to tranquilise her before killing the woman," said the officer. Dr Almas Khan, who conducted the post-mortem said, "The probable cause of her death was strangulation and head injuries."