Mahalakshmi (Bengaluru Murder Case) Age, Husband, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Mahalakshmi

• Mahalakshmi’s family has its roots in Nepal. In 1989, her family moved to Bengaluru, India, where Mahalakshmi grew up.

• She got separated from her husband in January 2024 due to domestic disputes.

• Mahalakshmi was residing alone at a rented one-bedroom flat in Malleshwaram.

• On 21 September 2024, her neighbours complained of a foul smell from her house to the owner. The owner of the building then contacted her mother and informed her about it.
  

  The apartment where Mahalakshmi resided before her murder

• Mahalakshmi’s mother when opened the door of her apartment, she found that blood was dripping off the refrigerator. On opening the refrigerator, her mother found Mahalakshmi’s dismembered body cut into 59 pieces. While talking about it to the media her mother said,
  

  The owner of the building informed me that there was foul smell coming from the house. When I came and opened the door I saw the body of Mahalakshmi cut into pieces. I saw her for the last time on Raksha-bandhan festival. Since then her phone was switched off.”

• Her mother then informed the Vyalikaval Police about it. The police reached the spot with a dog squad and forensic experts who suspected that the murder had taken place about 15 days before as the body parts were highly decomposed and worms were found in them. An FIR in the case was registered by the police.
  

  A team of Bengaluru Police outside the rented house where Mahalakshmi’s body was found

• The Bengaluru Police then formed six teams to investigate the case.

• On 22 September 2024, the body was taken to the Bowring Hospital where it was reconstructed during the postmortem.

• The police also seized the refrigerator and sent it to the forensic science laboratory.

• The police revealed that the killer had washed the house cleanly before escaping. A trolley suitcase was found in her bedroom which is suspected to have been brought by the killer to stuff the body parts into it. However, he might have failed to do so as the area mostly remained crowded.

• When the police questioned her estranged husband Hemant Das into the matter, he alleged that Mahalakshmi was having an extra-marital affair with a man named Ashraf from Uttarakhand and he might be involved in her murder. He said,
  

  For the last nine months, we were separated and I do not know whether she was in contact with the man. When she separated, he was also told not to meet her but I did not know if he met her. For the first four months, my daughter stayed with her (Mahalakshmi) and later she lived with me in Nelamangala.”

• Das also shared that he had earlier filed a case against Ashraf at a local police station in Bengaluru in May 2023 after he came to know about his affair with his wife. He said,
  

  I suspect one man called Ashraf. I filed a complaint against him at the Nelamangala police station once. Post the complaint, it was mandated that he must not come to Bengaluru. But I don’t know where else they went…”

• When the Police interrogated Ashraf in the case, he revealed that he had parted ways with Mahalakshmi a year back.

• In 2024, Hemant Das had filed a complaint against his estranged wife, Mahalakshmi, accusing her of hitting him after he refused to give her money.

• Hemant also revealed that he had not met Mahalakshmi for the past 25-30 days.

• Apparently, Mahalakshmi had also filed a complaint against her estranged husband Hemant Das in the Nelamangala Police Station, alleging that he had assaulted her.

• On 23 September 2024, the Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda informed the media that the police had identified the prime suspect in the case, who is reportedly a man from West Bengal, and was looking for more evidence to confirm his role. He said,
  

  He’s an outsider. We can’t give more information as of now as it may help the accused.”

• Later, Mukti Ranjan Ray’s (Mahalakshmi’s partner) body was found hanging from a tree in a village in Odisha. A suicide note was found inside a bag lying near the tree on which Ranjan’s body was hanging. In the note, while talking about Mahalakshmi Ranjan had written,
  

  She attacked me and that angered me and I hit her and killed her. I cut her into multiple pieces.”

• Apparently, Mahalakshmi had an argument with Mukti Ranjan Ray over marriage before she was murdered by Ranjan.

• Mahalakshmi met Mukti Ranjan for the first time at the garment factory, where they both worked. Soon, they became good friends and then began dating.

• After a few months of dating, Mahalakshmi began forcing Mukti Ranjan to marry her.

• Some sources revealed that after separating from her husband and daughter, Mahalakshmi stayed with her brother and his wife for a few days. However, his brother and his wife soon moved to Gunjur and got settled there. She had been living in the rented house for the last five months.

• The case is very similar to the brutal killing of 27-year-old Shraddha Walkar in Delhi’s Mehrauli in May 2022. She was allegedly strangled to death by her live-in partner Aftab Poonawala. After murdering Shraddha, Aftab chopped her body into 35 pieces and kept then in a fridge for around three weeks.