BENGALURU: The case of a 36-year-old man stabbing his wife to death during an argument and stuffing her body into a suitcase in their south Benglauru home before fleeing, is suspected to have been a premeditated, cold-blooded murder and not a spur-of-the-moment crime as police had initially surmised.
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Investigation revealed that the accused, Rakesh Rajendra Khedekar, had attempted to stuff his wife Gouri Anil Sambrekar, 32, into the suitcase even as she was alive and then tried to drag the trolley out of their home in Doddakammanahalli, near Hulimavu. But when the suitcase's handle broke, he abandoned the plan. He then moved it from the dining area to the bathroom, positioning it near the outlet pipe to drain the blood.
"Rakesh appears to be acting as if he is mentally disturbed, but we suspect otherwise. He is perfectly fine and is just trying to gain sympathy by acting abnormal. He is misleading police. It appears he brought her to Bengaluru with a plan to kill her," a senior officer said.
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Rakesh and Gouri had shifted from Mumbai to Bengaluru only a month ago. Both worked in different private firms but quit their jobs. Rakesh managed to find a new work-from-home job in a tech firm in Bengaluru, while Gouri was still looking for work.
The fateful night
On Wednesday, Gouri had prepared rice and gravy for dinner. Rakesh claimed they fought over a trivial issue around 9pm. Rakesh slapped her, and in retaliation, Gouri allegedly took a kitchen knife and hurled it at him. He sustained a minor injury. In a fit of rage, he is said to have taken the knife and stabbed her twice in the neck and once in the abdomen.
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Nail marks on his body show she fought back. As he gagged her, Gouri bled and started losing consciousness. Rakesh took a trolley suitcase and stuffed her into it. "Forensic experts believe he stuffed her inside even as she was alive. At the crime scene, we found a large amount of mucus from her nose and mouth. The mucus comes out only if the person is alive; if the person is dead and stuffed, mucus will not come out. We suspect she died inside the suitcase," the officer added.
Tried to carry trolley with body
After stuffing her into the suitcase, Rakesh tidied up the crime scene by washing it. Subsequently, he tried to carry the suitcase but the handle broke. So he dropped the plan and pulled the trolley to the bathroom. He locked the house from outside and sped away in his Honda City car around 12.45am Thursday.
Rakesh wanted to drive to Mumbai and meet his parents. He switched off his phone before exiting the city. On the way to Pune, he switched it back on. He called Gouri's brother, Ganesh Anil Sambrekar, around 4pm, informed him he had killed Gouri in their house, and switched off his phone. Gouri's brother alerted local police in Maharashtra, who, in turn, alerted Hulimavu police inspector BG Kumaraswamy. A team was dispatched to locate the house.
Meanwhile, Rakesh called Prabhu Singh, one of the tenants on the ground floor of the building where he lived. He informed Singh his wife had committed suicide by hanging and asked him to alert cops and the building owner. Singh called the landlord, who dialled the police helpline. Cops arrived, only to find the house locked. The door was broken open and police didn't find anyone hanging. They did, however, find Gouri's body in the suitcase.
‘Conversation' with her body
Based on mobile tower location, police found that Rakesh was near Shirwal, about 50km from Pune. When a city police officer spoke to him, he claimed to have spent all night talking to his wife's body and acted very disturbed. But when cops verified CCTV footage, they found he had left the home around midnight. Later, Rakesh claimed that he ‘spoke' to her body for only an hour, police said.
Rakesh confessed that his wife was ‘dominating him' and had developed differences with his parents. She wanted to live separately, so he brought her to Bengaluru. However, she allegedly began blaming him for bringing her to the city, where she wasn't able to find a job.
The officer explained that Rakesh claims to have sat next to his wife's body and asked her why she had behaved this way. "We suspect he must have spoken for some time and spent the rest of the time cleaning the house," the cop added.
‘My wife's calling me'
According to police, Rakesh purchased phenyl and cockroach killer on his way to Shirwal, Maharashtra, and consumed it. "He felt uneasy and narrated his ordeal to a passing biker, who took him to a Shirwal hospital. He is out of danger. He had told Maharashtra police that he attempted suicide as his wife was calling him. Once he is discharged, we will bring him to the city," a police officer said.
Rakesh's father is Gouri's maternal uncle. She did her schooling while staying in Rakesh's house. The duo fell in love and were in a live-in relationship for four years. They married two years ago against the wishes of Gouri's family.
Ganesh Anil Sambrekar and his wife came to Bengaluru and cremated Gouri at Wilson Garden crematorium.