Virar murder: Necrophilia Test to check if killer had sex with corpse

Unable to wrap their heads around the claim that Pintoo Sharma brutally hacked 53-year-old Ganesh Koladkar to death over a mere Rs 60,000, the police are investigating a necrophilia (sexual act with a corpse) angle. The Arnala Coastal police, who are probing the case, told mid-day that Sharma would be taken to government hospital on Wednesday for a medical test to check if this was indeed the case.

Medics say necrophilia is a rare disorder in which the person is sexually attracted to or performs sexual acts on corpses. Medical officer of the government hospital in Agashi, Dr Rugved Dudhat, said, "We will conduct thorough tests to ascertain if the accused is a necrophiliac or not. The test lasts two-three hours and we will check for any sign of resistance on his body, including private parts. A body becomes stiff after death and if Sharma tried to penetrate Koladkar, the chances are high that his private parts sustained injuries." He added, "In necrophilia, the killer also takes pleasure in cutting the body into pieces. We will submit our report to the police."

Pintoo Sharma

Kidnapping case relooked at
The Arnala Coastal police team is working with counterparts at Valiv police station where Sharma is a co-accused in the kidnapping of LIC agent Arvind Ranade, a resident of Borivli. Ranade was last seen with his driver Uttam Sawan, 31, and Sharma on February 21, 2018. A kidnapping case was registered against the duo at Valiv police station on March 15, 2018. They were subsequently arrested but later released on bail.

Ranade's family friend Vinayak Patkar said there are similarities in both cases. "Both victims are bachelors in their 50s. Sharma had also rented a seventh floor flat in Naigaon and had told the property agent that his house in Vakola is very small and he now wants a bigger flat. Sharma's wife told police he had not discussed anything with her about relocating.

Ganesh Koladkar

In both the cases, the flat owner is a woman and in the CCTV footage, the victims are seen going inside the flat with Sharma but are never seen coming out. There are many other similarities, too, which I have told the cops at Arnala Coastal police station," said Patkar. He added, "If the then IO had probed the matter thoroughly, Koladkar would be alive today." API Umesh Patil of Valiv police, the present investigating officer in the Ranade case, said, "The modus operandi in Ranade and Koladkar cases is similar, but we are not sure if Sharma killed Ranade."

Custody extended
On Tuesday, Sharma was produced before the Vasai court that has extended his police custody till February 3. Sunil Mane, inspector of Arnala Coastal police, said, "The accused carried two phones. We have recovered one, but are yet to recover the other, which he had used while talking to the victim. We have found three hacksaw blades but suspect the accused might have used other sharp-edged weapons to chop up the body. Also, we suspect the involvement of more than one person in the case."

Endorsing mid-day's report on January 29, the police told the court that 'the accused watched videos five times on YouTube on January 16 to know how to chop body into tiny pieces'.

The investigating team suspects that Sharma, who has done a certificate course in Anatomy and Physiology of the Human Body from Mumbai University, may have used surgical blades to remove vital organs from Koladkar's body. However, senior police officers have denied any angle of 'organ trafficking' in the case.

Not possible, says wife
Through Defence lawyer Sujata Rawate, Sharma's wife, Sunita, told mid-day that 'her husband has been falsely implicated in the case'. "She [Sunita] said her husband left home around 8 am every day and returned around 8.30 and 9pm. The police can look for CCTV footage where her husband parks his two-wheeler in Vakola," Rawate told mid-day.

"She said there would be behavioural changes in a person if he is involved in a horrendous murder and chopping up of a body into multiple pieces. But, her husband returned home, behaved normally with the family and had even helped the children in their homework," Rawate said.

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