mumbai

Updated: Sep 09, 2019 00:17 IST

A day after Anil Chugani, 43, allegedly flung his neighbour’s three-year-old daughter, Shanaya, from the bedroom window of his seventh- floor flat on Radio Club Marg in Colaba, the police said he claimed there was no motive behind it. He was sent to seven days’ police custody on Sunday.

The police have ruled out accidental fall, as the window was higher and the three-year-old couldn’t have reached it. The body being recovered 20ft away from the window confirmed the suspicion that she was flung from the seventh floor, said police. The post-mortem report, meanwhile, confirmed the child died of shock due to multiple injuries.

According to the police, Chugani lived in Ashoka apartment, since childhood and was the friend of the girl’s father Prem lal Hathirmani, 44. Hathiramani lives in the adjacent building. Chugani got married in 2010 and his wife was staying at her mother’s place. Chugani’s parents and brother live in Morocco. He too used to live in Morocco and use to come to Colaba once a year for a month or two.

“During the investigation, we found he was in Mumbai for the past six months and was jobless,” said a police official.

Hathirmani said Chugani used to visit his residence to pass time with his kids. Two days ago, Anil requested Prem to allow him to take his son, Jay, and twin daughters, Shanaya and Shreya, to his place.

“As Anil was taking the kids for the first time, I asked my help, Kakuli Mandal, to join them,” said Prem in his statement to police.

Prem said around 7.30pm, his father received a call from his neighbour that Shanaya had fallen from the building and had suffered injuries. “I went to Anil’s building. On the way, I met a friend, Abdul Rahim, who had seen a girl fallen on the ground,” said Prem.

She was rushed to St George hospital, where she was declared dead and later shifted to JJ hospital for post-mortem. The police found Mandal, 48, was in the hall with two of the kids, while the accused had taken Shanaya to the bedroom.

The Colaba police have registered a murder case under section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code. The police suspect Chugani may be mentally unstable as he was jobless and did not have children.

Police are also investigating a black magic angle. While the police said he is a psychopath, no psychiatric evaluation had been conducted to ascertain the condition.