A few days ago, they had fled from their native place of Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh to marry despite opposition from their parents. Their love story, however, has met a tragic end when the 21-year-old boy, Ranjit Nishad, allegedly murdered the teenager at their tin-shed house in a slum near Gultekdi.

Police are relying on the theory that the boy was unhappy with his wife’s dressing style. The couple, neighbours have told the police, used to have frequent fights over this issue. He reportedly wanted her to forego T-shirt and jeans attire and she refused to do so.

The couple, Ranjit and Pooja, had moved to the tin-shed room on the second floor of a house in Meenatai Thackeray chawl cluster just over a month ago. They paid a rent of Rs 1,500 per month to their landlord Asif Shaikh, a residents of Ganesh Peth. The couple had secured the place without having to pay a security deposit with the help of an acquaintance who stayed on the first floor of the same house. On October 21, a fire in the slum had gutted over 60 houses which were tightly clustered together.

“The boy worked at a mobile repair shop. The girl looked quite young to be married. She mostly remained indoors. We don’t know much about her. They only interacted with the acquaintances who stayed on the first floor. Now, we got to know that the fights between the couple were routine,” said Shankar Nikle, who stays in the vicinity.

On Friday evening, a resident of the nearby house sensed a foul smell coming from the locked room and tried to peep through using the flash of his cellphone. Inside, he saw a pile of blankets in the middle of room from which the strong stench was emanating. He informed the police who then broke open the door to find the teenager’s body. She was apparently smothered and her head smashed on the ground, leading to her death.

R S Rajmane, Police Inspector (Crime) with Swargate Police Station said, “Ranjit has disappeared since Tuesday morning. Neighbours told us that he left the house alone and never returned. Since that day, they didn’t see Pooja who had to get down to buy groceries once in a while. They also told us that the two used to fight over Pooja’s dressing style. She used to love to wear T-shirts and jeans and he used to object to this. On Tuesday morning too, they had a quarrel, we are told by neighbours.”

The police are trying to find out as to when exactly the incident took place.

According to the police, Ranjit’s cellphone can’t be traced since then. Police teams have been dispatched to Faizabad.

“Once we reach their homes, we will have a greater understanding of the case and the relations they shared. It will also help us track him down,” said police sub-inspector D Jakhade said.

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