Palghar resident who killed wife and hid body in house burnt incense sticks to hide odour

A day after he allegedly killed his wife and hid the body in a bed, a 27-year-old resident of Palghar district in Maharashtra burnt incense sticks to hide the odour as he was trying to sell household items and had invited buyers, police said.

Hardik Shah, arrested by the crime branch of Mira- Bhayander-Vasai-Virar police with the help of Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials from Nagda in Madhya Pradesh when he was fleeing to Haridwar, admitted to the crime during questioning, an official said.

Shah had sent a message to his wife's sister about the killing and was thinking of ending his own life, police said. He allegedly told the investigators that he killed his wife Megha Thorvi (40) around February 11 following a spat over money.
He and Megha had met through a dating app three years ago, and after living together for sometime they got married in August last year, the police official said.

Shah, who was unemployed, had worked as a call-data-record (CDR) analyst during lockdown, while Megha was working as a nurse but she too had quit the job, he said. Shah's father, a diamond merchant, used to give them Rs 20,000 per month but after Megha fought with him, he stopped paying them.

On Saturday, there was yet another fight during which Shah allegedly strangled Megha with a towel, and then stuffed the body in a bed.

Next day, in need of money to flee, he tried to sell some household items and called a few people to inspect the goods, the police official said. He burnt Dhoop Batti (incense) sticks so that visitors would not notice the decomposing body's smell, the official added.

On Monday, he took a train from Mumbai Central, while in the evening the neighbours, noticing the smell, alerted the police and the murder came to light. Police tracked his movement from his mobile phone signal and guessed that he must be travelling by train in Gujarat or Madhya Pradesh. He was nabbed with the help of the RPF near Nagda railway station on February 13.