Autopsies reveal the 22-year-old was strangled to death, while the female victim was choked and slashed across her throat
The bodies of two 20-somethings were fished out from a nullah near the Vasai-Nallasopara Road early last morning. The police suspect that the two were murdered following which their bodies were dumped in the nullah.
The two were later identified as 22-year-old Joseph Prakash Salve, a resident of Nallasopara (East) and Priyanka Mohite (21), a Kandivli resident.
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According to the Manikpur police, they received a call on early Tuesday morning from a local who saw the two bodies floating in the nullah located near a small bridge, about half a kilometre from Vasai’s Sun City.
“Their post-mortems were conducted at Navghar Hospital and their autopsies reveal that Salve was strangled to death while in addition to being strangled, a deep cut was also found on Mohite’s neck,” said K S Hegaje, inspector, Manikpur police station.
The authorities suspect the two of them knew each other, adding that the two of them were last seen on Monday afternoon together by a few locals. Cops also added that the spot from where their bodies were recovered was infamously known as Lovers Point and was a favourite among young couples owing to its deserted location.
Explaining how they determined the identities of their victims, Hegaje told MiD DAY that a document on Salve’s body helped them ascertain his identity. They then scanned his Facebook account and found Priyanka’s name on his friend’s list and her picture matched with that of the body. However, they were still tracing the girl’s family for an exact identification.
“As of now we have registered a case under Section 302 (murder) under the Indian Penal Code against unidentified accused. Once, we speak to both the families, we will also be able to ascertain if robbery was the motive behind the murder,” said Hegaje.u00a0
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