Bhubaneswar: Amid the ongoing investigation into Bengaluru’s Mahalakshmi murder case, shocking details are emerging with each passing day.
Mukti Ranjan Ray (30), prime suspect, had confessed to his crime before his mother, hours before taking his own life near his house at Dhusuri in Odisha on Wednesday. He had also planned to dispose of the body chopped into “59 pieces” after two-three months, according to his younger brother Satyaranjan.
While police suspect Mukti took the extreme step fearing arrest, his brother, whose statement was recorded by Bengaluru cops, claimed that he ended his life out of guilt.
His confession
In the notebook recovered by police, he not only confessed to his crime but also mentioned disturbing details of the murder in both Odia and English.
Mukti and Mahalakshmi were colleagues and allegedly in a relationship for nearly six months. However, the couple often quarrelled with Mahalakshmi insisting on marriage. In his diary entry, he mentioned about pressure and alleged mental harassment and also that she had physically assaulted him multiple times for refusing to marry her.
Mukti further wrote that Mahalakshmi took advantage of the fact that he liked her and exploited him financially. He even claimed that she wanted to kill him, which is why he murdered her. “Many times, she had physically assaulted me for not agreeing to marry… I was tired of her atrocities. I did it. I killed her. I was fed up with her. Her constant fights and demands for money were very frustrating,” police said, quoting from the note found in Mukti’s diary.
Family confirms alleged torture
His mother also told the media that he was disturbed as Mahalakshmi was exploiting him. “She even took his gold chain and a ring,” the mother claimed.
According to his brother, he strangled her (Mahalakshmi) to death following a scuffle after he went to her house on September 3.
He further claimed that days before the crime, he was threatened by a group of youths at the woman’s behest.
He added that Mahalakshmi frequently demanded money and jewellery. “She was torturing him. Recently, the two had an altercation while en route to Kerala, following which she told police that my brother had kidnapped her. My brother was beaten up by police. He had planned to dispose of Mahalakshmi’s dismembered remains after a few months,” said Satya, whom he had visit in Berhampur before leaving for home.
Mahalakshmi’s body was found stuffed in the refrigerator of her house on September 21.
Local police account
The heated arguments and physical fights between Mukti and Mahalakshmi sometimes spilled onto the street outside her Vyalikaval residence. There had also been reports about their altercations at the Malleshwaram police station and attempts to resolve the issue amicably, News18 reported citing local police sources.
Mukti, who knew about Mahalakshmi’s earlier marriage with Hemanth Das, was allegedly also upset after seeing pictures of other men on the victim’s phone and suspected her of having an affair elsewhere, which was possibly why he was reluctant to marry her.
After fatally attacking Mahalakshmi, Mukti allegedly sat with the dead body through the night and visited a utensil shop in Malleshwaram the following morning from where he bought a cleaver knife. “We have footage of the accused entering the shop, and later evidence indicated that the accused threw away an item, which was later discovered to be the knife’s cover,” a police source told News18.
Mahalaksmi’s aggressive behaviour
According to the police, Mahalakshmi was known to be “hot-tempered”, and complaints of physical assault between the two parties were lodged with the local police.
Mukti had discussed about Mahalakshmi’s aggressive behaviour and the images on her cell phone with her younger brother, Smriti Ranjan Ray, who lives in Hebbagodi.
Her estranged husband, Hemanth Das who lives with their four-year-old daughter, had also registered a complaint at Nelamangala police station in February this year, alleging that she bit him during an argument and demanded money. The couple had separated in September 2023 after he suspected her of having an affair with a man called Ashraf, who hails from Uttarakhand and works at a barber shop.
