Maharashtra: She lay unseen under fallen tree for 48 hours

Authorities shift logs of wood to find the body of Manjula Jha trapped underneath. Pics/Hanif Patel

A man, desperately searching for his mother who had been missing for 48 hours, reviewed multiple CCTV recordings and identified a likely location. He broke into tears upon recognising his mother's saree under a large tamarind tree that had fallen on Wednesday morning. Her body, highly decomposed, was recovered 48 hours later. The victim, identified as Manjula Jha, was in her late 60s. Her son has blamed authorities for doing nothing to recover the body. Despite her son's missing person report filed at Arnala police station on June 19, the body of the senior citizen remained trapped under the uprooted tamarind tree for over 48 hours. mid-day reached out to VVCMC several times but there was no response.

The victim Manjula Jha

After the agencies, including civic as well as police officials, were informed, they all rushed to the spot and her highly decomposed, jewellery-laden body was recovered. The body was sent to a nearby rural hospital in Virar, where her post-mortem was conducted. mid-day visited her residence at Bolinj Naka in Virar, where the family members were crying inconsolably over the irreparable loss. "Jha had shifted to Virar hardly a week ago, along with her two sons and their families. Previously, they lived in Kashimira for more than two decades," said a neighbour. "Had I been known of the life threat in Virar, I would have never shifted," sobbed her younger son Naresh Jha, who works in the film industry.

The incident

"Manjula had gone to drop her grandchildren to the school bus on Wednesday morning. She stopped under a tamarind tree to pluck flowers for worship. The strong wind, followed by rain, caused the tree to fall," said a woman who was present at the spot.

Police authorities during the search operation to find the victim. Pics/Hanif Patel

"After the initial search operation, her son Suresh Jha registered a missing person's complaint at Arnala police station. We had been searching for her but she was not found anywhere," said Vijay Patil, senior inspector of Arnala police station. On Thursday, Manjula's sons had started to scan CCTV cameras in the vicinity. "My mother was seen on the CCTV footage returning. After reaching the tamarind tree, she was not visible, so I suspected she might have gotten trapped under the branches," said Naresh.

The elder son Suresh Jha said, "My mother was our pillar of strength. My father passed away nearly 20 years ago. She would go for a jog in the morning and return home by 7.30 am. But on June 19, when she did not come back we got alarmed. Initially, we didn't anticipate any mishap so I went to work. However, when I heard that she hadn't returned home even by the afternoon, I rushed back. We even made an announcement at the railway station in case she was there, as she had planned to go to Kashimira to meet our old neighbours," said Suresh. "The body was so badly decomposed that her eyes were out of the socket. It had started to emanate a foul smell. Who is responsible for that?"

Foul smell was from human

Local residents told mid-day that the body was highly decomposed. "The relatives of an elderly woman (Manjula) came to this place in the morning (Friday) and began a search operation. Suddenly, I heard that one woman was trapped under the tree. She was not visible due to the branches and the garbage that was thrown in the area," said a local resident.

Funeral pyre of the victim, Manjula Jha

When asked if anyone noticed a foul smell in the surroundings as the body was lying unattended when it rained intermittently amidst intolerable humidity, a woman said, "Rodents often die in the area and we are used to such smell, not realising it was a human being this time" said a woman. The Arnala police have registered an accidental death report (ADR) in connection with the matter. mid-day tried to reach out to VVCMC commissioner Anil Pawar, but he did not respond to the calls and messages.