An Indian man has been arrested by police for murdering a woman, who was his ‘Facebook friend’. He reportedly strangled her to death with a shoelace for refusing sex with him.
The incident took place on 18th February 2018, when he killed her in his Nalasopara flat.
The man, named Haridas Nirgude, met his 20-year-old victim, Ankita More, on Facebook. They had soon developed a friendship over the course of a few months. Sub-Divisional Police Officer Datta Totewad said:
“The two had been chatting regularly on Facebook for the past couple of months. On Sunday, the accused invited the woman to his home as his sister and brother-in-law had gone out to work.”
When Ankita arrived at the 25-year-old’s flat, he began to demand that she have sex with him. However, she refused and decided to leave the residence. Nirgude stopped her and proceeded to murder her. Datta Totewad also suggests he may have sexually assaulted her, saying:
“The accused forced himself on her and when she resisted, he strangled her with a shoelace.” A post-mortem of the victim’s body revealed the murder took place around 4:30pm.
After the crime, Nirgude left Ankita’s body in the ground-floor staircase, outside his flat. The police officer revealed the 25-year-old felt panicked:
“For the next few hours, the accused tried to figure out where to dump the body. He had to act fast as he knew his sister and brother-in-law would return soon.
However, fellow residents discovered Ankita at 7:15pm and alerted authorities. Despite not knowing her identity, some of the tenants said they saw her approaching a ground-floor flat earlier in the day. Sub Inspector Kishore Khairnar said:
“When neighbours gathered at the spot, Nirgude feigned ignorance about her identity. However, the footwear found outside Nirgude’s house made us suspicious.”
After discovering Ankita’s sandals by the man’s front door, officers entered the flat. They discovered bloodstains on the bed, as well as finding Ankita’s mobile phone and bag. Kishore Khairnar added:
“Nirgude could not give satisfactory replies and later confessed to the crime.” He also revealed his method of murdering her. As a result, they have now booked him for murder.
Indian police suspect the 20-year-old woman arrived in Nalasopara without telling her family. They will continue their investigation, with the 25-year-old standing before a court on 20th February.
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