Mumbai: The Andheri police have arrested Joseph Thomas Coelho, 65, and his wife Maria, 63, from the Marol Pipeline locality in Andheri (East) for allegedly killing Coelho's 80-year-old sister, Blance James Sequeira, and dumping her body in a five-feet-deep storm water drain. The couple then filed a false missing complaint with the Sahar police on January 10.
Body Discovered by BMC Workers
The case came to light on April 24 when sanitation workers from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) opened the drain's manhole for cleaning ahead of the monsoon and found decomposed skeletal remains of a woman. They immediately alerted the Andheri police.
Police said the case was solved within 24 hours after Andheri police circulated photos of the deceased woman on the police WhatsApp group in the city. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone X) Datta Nalawade said, "After analysing the deceased body, we came to the conclusion that it is not a case of murder for robbery. The ornaments like an aluminum kada (bracelet), silver bangle, and gold earrings were intact on the body. Meanwhile, we got information about a missing complaint registered at Sahar police on January 10, and the missing person's description provided by the Coelho couple matched the deceased. The couple were called for questioning, which led to the breakthrough."
Police Investigation and Confession
After the body was found, DCP Nalawade supervised nine teams, including ACP Gajanan Pawar, Senior Inspector Umesh Machindar, Inspector Vinod Patil, and Sub-Inspectors Kishor Parkale, Samadhan Supe, and Sanjay Akolekar. They gathered information about the couple from the neighbourhood and their relationship with the deceased, finding contradictions in their statements. "The team did not let the couple know that we had cracked the case and first made them identify the deceased. Later, the couple and their son were questioned separately before they broke down and confessed to the crime. The couple told us that they thought they would never get caught," said a police officer from the Andheri police station.
Motive and Sequence of Events
During the probe, neighbours told police that due to old age, the deceased and the accused regularly fought over petty issues. "The couple said on January 10 at 12:30 am, they were annoyed with the deceased sister's frequent harassment. During the fight, they pushed her, and she fell on her head and succumbed on the spot. With the intention of destroying evidence, they carried the body on their shoulder at night and dumped it into the drainage line after opening a closed manhole. Subsequently, they filed a false missing person report," said the police.
