Third bag filled with musician's chopped body parts found

Mumbai: Police on Friday recovered a suitcase which they believe contained the remaining missing body parts of a musician who was killed allegedly by his 'adopted' daughter and her minor boyfriend.

Bennett Reibelo, a music show arranger, was killed in November-end by the duo who disposed off his body parts after chopping and stuffing them in three suitcases, two of which were found earlier, police have said.

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The third suitcase, containing the 59-year-old victim's head and torso, was found at Prabhadevi chowpatty in Central Mumbai's Dadar area, a senior police official said.

The gruesome murder came to light when a suitcase stuffed with Reibelo's chopped limbs were first found on the Mahim beach on December 2, police said.

Following the recovery, the police arrested his 19- year-old "adopted" daughter and detained her 16-year-old boyfriend for the murder.

"There is a high probability that the remains found in Dadar belong to the victim in the Mahim case. Further investigations are underway," said the official.

Reibelo's body parts were stuffed in three bags and thrown in the Mithi river at suburban Vakola, he said.

While one of Reibelo's legs, a hand and private parts were found in a suitcase at the Mahim beach, another bag containing some other remains was recovered from the Mithi river earlier this week, the official said.

The victim's daughter and her boyfriend have told the police that on November 26, they first hit Reibelo with a stick and then stabbed him to death, he said.

The duo then kept the corpse at the victim's flat in suburban Santa Cruz (East) for three days, and hacked it into pieces, which were stuffed in suitcases and dumped into the river, the official said.

During interrogation, Reibelo's daughter claimed she had been sexually assaulted by him, he said.

Alleged sexual assault by the victim and property- related issues said to have led to the killing, police said.

The teenager has been sent to an observation home, while the woman is in police custody till December 16.

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(PTI)