MBA student’s murder: Boyfriend drank beside body, sexually abused it, then tried to ‘summon’ her spirit

INDORE: Police investigation into the 24-year-old MBA student murder has uncovered a chilling sequence of events, with officers alleging that the accused indulged in necrophilia after killing her.

The body of the student was found in a room rented by her boyfriend in Dwarkapuri area of Indore on Feb 10, three days after she went missing. Investigations led police to her boyfriend Piyush Dhanotiya, also her classmate, who was arrested from Andheri of Mumbai on Feb 14.


“During interrogations, the arrested accused Piyush Dhanotiya said that he first tied her hands and legs, stuffed cloth into her mouth and strangled her inside his rented room.

After ensuring she had died, he left the room, bought beer bottles and returned, where he sat drinking beside the body. He later sexually assaulted the corpse and engaged in necrophilia.

He then stabbed her in the chest before leaving the room,” said DCP Krishna Lalchandani said the accused’s behaviour after the crime remained erratic.

According to DCP Zone 4 Krishna Lalchandani, Piyush, a resident of Mandsaur and a second-year MBA student, was in a relationship with the victim. However, he suspected that she was in contact with another man. On February 10, he allegedly took her to his flat where a dispute broke out between them, following which he strangled her.

He travelled to a deserted location near Panvel in Mumbai, lit incense sticks and watched online videos about summoning spirits. In the darkness, he allegedly muttered apologies and claimed he wanted to communicate with the victim’s spirit within hours of the killing. He said that he also tried to jump in front of a train.

During interrogation at Dwarakapuri police station, the accused asked for a blank sheet of paper and wrote that he had committed a grave wrong and wanted to die. He claimed he loved her and repeatedly requested officers to let him meet her. DCP said that he had been watching occult content and searching for suicide methods online, though he never acted on those searches.

Investigators also learned that the accused suspected the victim was speaking to other men. After the murder, he used her phone to send a message to her family saying she would not return home, before switching the device off.

CCTV footage showed the two entering the room together and the accused later leaving alone with a bag. Her body was recovered from the same room.