MUMBAI: A day after a man from Nalasopara was arrested for allegedly strangling his Facebook friend at his house in Nalasopara (east), the police said that he has confessed to having sexually assaulted the 20-year-old woman. A post-mortem report is awaited.

The body of the woman, Ankita More (20), was found on the staircase across the ground-floor flat of the accused, Haridas Nirgude (21) who has been booked for murder.

The police said that Nirgude, who had befriended the woman on Facebook about six months ago, has claimed that he panicked as More started to bleed after the sexual act. "We suspect it was his first sexual encounter. He panicked as Ankita refused to leave the flat on realizing that she was bleeding. Bloodstains were found on the bed and in the bathroom of the flat," said an officer from Tuling police station.

Nirgude told the police that he feared that his sister, with whom he lived, would return home anytime and find him with More in the house. Nirgude, who hails from Washim district, feared that he would be packed off to his village.

"In a fit of rage, he strangled More with a shoe lace. He then placed the body on the stairs and returned to the flat. As the building does not have a CCTV [closed-circuit television] camera, he thought he would get away scot-free."

Nirgude, a salesman at a gift shop, had invited More, a Vashi resident who worked at a departmental store to his house. He knew that his sister would be away on Sunday. As for More, she had told her parents that she was going to meet a friend in her locality. "Her family was unaware of her friend in Nalasopara," said the officer.

