Mira Road murder: Man wanted Rs 20,000 to splurge on bar dancer

Girish Khote, who confessed to the gruesome murder, got married to Madhumanti, who was a French national, in 2010. He had been having an affair with a bar girl and used to ask for money from his wife to spend on the girl. The couple used to fight constantly over this.

Police said that on Tuesday afternoon, the day of the murder, Khote asked his wife for Rs 20,000 to spend on his girlfriend who worked at a beer bar at Dahisar. This irked Madhumanti no end and the couple started arguing. The fight turned violent when Madhumanti refused to give him any more money, and threatened to return to France to her grandmother, along with their two-and-half-year-old kid.

Khote realised that all the property and bank accounts were in Madhumanti's name and he would lose everything if she left. In a fit of rage, he began hitting her and smothered her. Before he knew it, Madhumanti was dead. "In a panic, Khote called up his cousin and left for a nearby mall, leaving Madhumanti's body in the bedroom," said an officer from Mira Road police station. He bought knives, cotton, detergent, cleaning material and duct tape. He chopped her body into pieces and packed them into bags. He then stuffed the wrapped up parts into the refrigerator.

When he confessed to his cousin about the murder in the night, the cops were informed. On Tuesday night, the police arrested Khote and recovered his wife's body parts from their 14th floor flat at Nakshatra Tower, Golden Nest. The police said that Khote had confessed to the crime and that he intended only to beat her, not kill her.